Maybe Don't Do As The Romans Do
by manydreams1216
Summary: After working long and hard to get to where she is, Rory Gilmore is given the opportunity of a lifetime. She is the new executive assistant to the U.S. ambassador to Italy. Little does she know that someone from her past has recently taken over the job.
1. Pardon Me

Title: Maybe Don't Do What The Romans Do

Rating: T

Summary: After working long and hard to get to where she is, Rory Gilmore is given the opportunity of a lifetime. She is the new executive assistant to the U.S. ambassador to Italy. Little does she know that someone from her past has recently taken over the job. AU.

Author's Note: Recently off the heels of _Mary Dugrey_, I have decided to write another story. However this time I am going to try my hand at an actual Rory and Tristan story. As you can tell this is AU. The reason why will be revealed in due course. Just a little FYI all of the chapters are going to be song titles. There are not going to be any lyrics just the song title. I know I said I was going to write a prequel, but I need something in the middle that's not along that story line. I hope you all enjoy and I hope for some feedback. Criticisms are welcome and I will take any suggestions you have. Thank you!

-Lauren (manydreams1216)

**Chapter 1 - Pardon Me**

"Italy! Rory that's amazing. You are going to be in Rome. Rome, think about that for a second. Oh my gosh, Italian men are to die for. You are going to love it," Lane Kim exclaimed. Over the past six years she had watched Rory Gilmore, her best friend since she could remember, go off to third and second world countries like Rwanda, Columbia, and her most recent assignment Thailand, which had left her friend phobic of waves, beaches and anything that had to do with water.

"I know. And the ambassador has such a reputation in the State Department. I can not wait to work with him," Rory said.

Lane looked at her friend and noticed that something was different. Rory had lost that same gleam in her eye she had since she first started this job. Originally Rory had wanted to be an international correspondent. Although at Yale, she switched her journalism major to international relations and the rest you could say is history. She went to graduate school at Georgetown, then passed her foreign service officer test and off to Africa Rory went.

Rory had loved her job. It allowed her to really grow up and become who she was and Lane loved that Rory. But then after Thailand, Rory just wasn't the same. The State Department had allowed her three months off and Rory had retreated back to Stars' Hollow. Granted Lane took full advantage of this and so had Lorelai, Rory's mom. It was different though than all the last times Rory had come home after a two year absence. Instead of being the happy, optimistic, innocent girl she was, Rory became withdrawn, pessimistic, and hard. No one could really reach her anymore. It was almost like the time Rory's second boyfriend and first love had broken up with her.

"Do you want to go back Rory?" Lane asked.

Rory got up off the bed she had been sitting on across from Lane. "Yeah of course I do. It's what I signed up for and I'm going to go through with it. And this time is going to be different. Italy's not the same as Thailand."

"Okay. I'm just worried about you Rory. You haven't said anything about what happened and you haven't been the same."

The blue eyes turned around from the shelves of books that lined Rory's bedroom walls and looked towards Lane. "I don't want to talk about it, Lane. I know should, but I'm not ready."

Lane's hand reached across and touched Rory's shoulder. "I want you to know that I'm here for you, okay? I love you and I don't like seeing you like this."

"I know and I'll tell you when I'm ready to talk. Right now just isn't the best time."

"I know."

"Good," she paused. "I'm going to tell Mom about the new job at the inn. You can come if you want," the brown haired girl offered.

Getting off the bed, Lane responded. "No it's okay. I'll let you and Lorelai celebrate. I should get back to Zach and the kids anyway."

"Okay. I'm just going to put my coat on, then I'll walk you out."

Grabbing a black overcoat for the Connecticut April weather, Rory walked Lane to the front door and they said goodbye and gave each other hugs. The normal protocol for best friends of twenty years.

After saying goodbye Rory was left alone with her thoughts as she made her way over to the inn her mother had owned for the past decade. There were many good memories for Rory in the small town she had grown up in. It had her first words, her first steps, her first kiss, and her first declaration of love. The last was the most painful. At least she thought it was.

If you would have asked her six months ago, her most painful experience she would have said him. She couldn't even say his name anymore. It had been too long and frankly she didn't want to relive it. But four months ago, another event had given him competition as the worst and most difficult thing for her to get through. And like him, she couldn't talk about it.

Her thoughts were interrupted as she arrived at the bustling inn. She saw the French man Michel, that she could always count on to make her laugh. She smelled the delectable food that no doubt Sookie was making. And then she heard her mother's charming, but loud voice. Her mother was the most important person in her life and that was something Rory knew would never change.

Lorelai quickly noticed her as her eyes scanned over her business. "Rory!" She briskly walked over to wear her daughter was standing and gave her a hug that almost cut off Rory's wind pipe. "What are you doing here? I thought you were hanging out with Lane."

"I was. The State Department called and gave me another assignment."

After seeing her daughter's face and sighing Lorelai asked, "Where are you going now?"

"Rome."

"Wow."

"Yeah exactly what I said."

"Isn't Rome one of those elusive embassies that everyone hopes to be assigned to, but no one ever does?"

"Yep. And they picked me. I'm going to be the executive assistant to the ambassador, which is essentially the same thing as a secretary, but it's a little more dignified."

"That's amazing Rory."

Rory takes her eyes away from her mother and stares down at her hands. "It is amazing. More than anything I could of dreamed of. This is what I've wanted. If I do good, then who knows? I might get promoted or something."

"I have no doubt in my mind that you will be."

"Thanks."

"Do you want to go?" Lorelai asked.  
Letting out a grunt, Rory replied, "Why does everyone keep asking me that? I do want to go. Why would I not want to go? It's Italy. Italy. Not some third or second world country, but Italy! You've been there, it's beautiful."

"I know I just thought that maybe, maybe after what happened in Thailand, your career might have changed," Lorelai suggested as an answer to Rory's question.

"Well it didn't and I really want to go."

Taking her daughter in her arms, Lorelai responds to Rory's adamant response. "It's okay. I know you want to go."

"Mom can we go to Luke's?"

"Of course. Any excuse to see my wonderful husband and I'm taking it," Lorelai says playfully. "Michel, Rory and I are going to Luke's see you later!" Lorelai yells over her shoulder.

They barely hear Michel's protests as the two women laugh.

Walking into their familiar hangout, they see Luke with the same blue baseball cap he's never without, arguing with the ever persistent customer Kirk about god knows what.

"Kirk, if you don't shut up right now I am kicking you out of here!"

"That is no way to speak to a loyal customer!" Kirk shouted back.

"I don't care if you are a loyal customer or not, get out of here right now!"

Rising out of his chair, Kirk replied,"I'm speaking to Taylor about this and he'll–"

"He'll what Kirk? Give me one of those 'Be nice to everyone in the town Luke' speeches. I have no problem telling him to get out too! This is a business and in the United States of America that means I can refuse service to anyone I want. So as I said earlier, GET OUT!"

Kirk scurried out of the restaurant.

"Sometimes I just want to kill that guy," Luke muttered under his breath.

"No you don't!" Lorelai said cheerily from behind him. "You love Kirk and as much as he annoys you, you know that it provides an incredible source of entertainment for you."

"Don't you mean you, Lorelai?"

Sarcastically she replied, "I didn't think of that."

"I'm sure."

Leaning into Luke, Lorelai gave him a kiss that was more than just "hello" kiss. Rory being used to it by now, goes and sits on the counter, fondling a menu.

After a minute, Lorelai sits in the stool next to her. Luke goes behind the counter.

"So, Rory what can I get you?"

"Coffee."

"No food?" he looks at Lorelai concerned.

Rory simply shook her head, seeming engrossed in the counter.

"What about you Lorelai?"

"Coffee and a cheeseburger with fries."

Getting the two coffees he mouthed to Lorelai, "What's wrong?"

She shrugged her shoulders.

"Lore, can you help me upstairs for a second?"

"Is it okay if I help Luke, sweetie?"

Absentmindedly Rory replied, "Sure."

The couple made their up the stairs to Luke's former apartment and recently converted office slash storage space.

"What's wrong with Rory?"

"I don't know. Luke you see her at dinner, she barely eats. She hardly sleeps and if she does, it's because she's cried herself into some dream. I don't see my daughter for two years and she comes back completely broken. I talked to her after it happened and she seemed different. I knew it would changed her, but not this dramatically. She barely talks to me."

"Do you think it's all about Thailand and the tsunami?" Luke wondered aloud.

"I don't think it was just that. Something happened. I don't know what, but something did. I don't want to pry it out of her. She'll just have to come to me."

"Can you wait that long?"

"I'm going to have to. The State Department called today."

"What?"

"They called and said they want to send Rory to Italy. She's going to be the executive assistant to the Italian ambassador."

"Wow." Luke sits down in a chair in the former dining room.

Lorelai sits across from him. "I know. Luke, she's going to be a million miles away again and I don't know if I can handle it. Two years, two whole years without seeing my daughter. I can't do that again."

Placing his hand on her cheek he brings her closer and says in her ear, "It's going to be okay. Maybe going to Italy will make Rory better. It's a different environment from Thailand. This might be good for her."

"That's what I try to keep telling myself."

"Keep telling yourself that. Lorelai I love you and I love Rory. We have to let her do what she thinks is best," Luke encouraged.

"Yeah. I just don't want to see her like this."

"I don't either. None of us do." He held his wife in comfort.

Two weeks later Rory had packed up all of her things and was at the Hartford International Airport awaiting her flight to Frankfurt, then for the connection to Rome. This time was different than all the other times her job had taken her across the world. First she wasn't giddy. Normally she was giddy. Second she had not read everything there was to know about Italian history. Granted she knew a lot of it, but she hadn't spent the last two weeks reading every single tidbit she could get her hands on.

She felt unprepared, which was never a good thing. There was this incredible urge for her to just run to library and fill her cranium with so many facts that she would burst. Although she didn't. She had an hour before her flight left and with a Tolstoy novel in her hand that she wasn't reading, she was thinking about Rome. The embassy had rented her an apartment three blocks from the embassy so she could walk and practically all of her living expenses were being paid for. They definitely knew how to make someone feel comfortable coming back to work. They had promoted her from the clerk position she held in Thailand and now she was going to be the executive assistant to the ambassador. She was going to have a lot more responsibilities now and she hoped she was ready for them.

"Flight 47 from Hartford to Frankfurt is now boarding," the loudspeaker announced.

After taking a deep breath, Rory walked over to the flight attendant, handed her boarding pass, and walked on the plane.

The flight was good. A little turbulence, but nothing that wasn't unexpected. She had finished her book and slept on the connection.

As she walked off the plane and into the Italian air something felt off to her. She didn't know if it was all in her head, but she felt like something wasn't right. Maybe it was the fact that the a limo came and picked her up. Or maybe it was the fact that her apartment was more of house than an apartment. In fact it was even bigger than the house in Stars' Hollow.

After she set aside the idea of everything being off she dozed off into a dreamless sleep, unaware of what her new job would bring her in the morning.

Waking up fully rested and prepared for the day to come, Rory had her six cups of coffee and walked out the door. She followed the instructions given to her by one of the embassy employees and ended up at the front door of the diplomatic institution.

There was no doubt about it being big. It easily dwarfed the other embassies around it. It definitely screamed United States of America and Rory could not help but think that it was all too predictable. After all, Italy has been one of the U.S.'s more prominent allies. The stone building had United States of America in gold letters across the top and an American flag underneath it. It was pretty, but not something Rory would find welcoming to other nations.

At the front desk she introduced herself and was led to the ambassador's office where several were waiting for her arrival.

An elder man with gray hair around his temples introduced himself to her first. "Buongiorno! You must be Rory Gilmore. I'm Robert Young, the Director of Communications."

"Nice to meet you Mr. Young," Rory replied politely. She wasn't all too aware of Italian. The other words she knew were either ciao or food related words and she didn't exactly consider that being familiar with the language.

"Oh please call me Robert."

"Okay Robert," she said with a smile on her face. She considered Mr. Young for a moment and took him for a nice and sincere man. He definitely would be someone she would feel comfortable speaking to.

Directing his hand at another man, Robert introduced him, "Rory this is Signor Franco. He's our chief translator. He was born in the United States, but has lived in Italy for the past twenty-five years. He will probably be your biggest resource in handling phone calls, paperwork, and anything thing else you might need."

The distinct Italian man with dark hair and even darker eyes, took her hand and kissed it. "Benvento all'Italia, Signorina. Spero che piace Italia."

Rory didn't really understand what he was saying but just nodded.

Robert noticed Rory's lack of understanding and told her what it meant. "He said welcome to Italia and that he hopes you like it."

"Oh," was all Rory could muster.

Further into the room there was a large desk and a black leather chair that was turned around facing the wall. The man sitting in the chair was speaking fast and furious in Italian. Rory could only assume that this was the ambassador.

After waiting about thirty seconds, the ambassador turned around in his chair and stood up before Rory.

Robert introduced him. "Rory Gilmore, this is the ambassador Tristan Dugrey. Mr. Dugrey this is Miss Gilmore your new executive assistant."

A/N: The chapter title is "Pardon Me" by Incubus.


	2. Of All The Gin Joints In All The World

I cannot believe how many positive reviews I've gotten. Thank you so much for thinking that this is a good story. I hope you all like this chapter too. I've got a few surprises for their past and for their future. Thanks again and as always reviews are appreciated, but you don't have to.

-Lauren (manydreams1216)

Rory just looked at the man in front of her. There was no doubt it was him. He looked older from the last time she saw him, which was fourteen years ago so that was understandable. Glasses were sitting on his nose, which gave him an intelligent look. Dare she say, he looked good. It's not like she didn't expect him too. He always looked good to her and that obviously had not changed, even if she wished it had.

He started speaking to the people around them. "Everyone could you please give Miss Gilmore and I, a moment alone please?"

She heard them all mutter "yes, sir" and "of course."

Before he had a chance to say anything, she started talking. "You are not the ambassador. The ambassador's name is Vincent Corzano and your name is Tristan Dugrey. And even if you are the ambassador, that's not possible, because you're my age and that's just not possible."

"Rory, calm down."

"I will not calm down! How do you expect me to calm down? I'm suppose to live and work here for two years and there is no way I can effectively do that with you not only being here, but let alone my boss."

Tristan took the glasses off his eyes and began the sarcasm that Rory knew all too well. "Is working a solitary activity too? Or is it just me that you object working with?"  
Rory shot him a look and if looks could kill. "Don't start Tristan," she said shortly.

He chose his next words carefully. "Let's not make this harder than it has to be Rory. I have no doubt that you are wondering how I got here, so I might as well save myself from your tongue lashing. Well I went to Duke University and the state department recruited me my senior year and I've been working for them ever since. Ambassador Corzano recently resigned his post after his wife became very ill. They needed someone in the interim and the state department recommended me and the president approved. So that is how I ended up here."

"And how exactly did I end up being your secretary?"

Tristan took a deep breath. He knew this question was going to come up. "The state assigned you here and I had no say in it."

"You have absolutely no control? I don't think that's possible."

"Rory, I'm being honest here."

"Tristan, you were never honest."

His eyes moved away from her figure. It hurt him for her to say that. Although one thing was for sure, she wouldn't know it hurt him. "This is my job Rory. If you don't like that, then I can put in a request for you to be reassigned. I'm not giving this up."

She didn't know why she said the next thing. It was almost like instinct to her. "Well I'm not giving this up either. I've been in the foreign service for six years and this is the opportunity I have been begging for."

"Then I believe we are at an impasse. I'll do my job and you do yours. We worked well together before and I'm sure this partnership will be no different."

"Fine."

"Good. I'm sure that you will find your stay here comfortable. Now if you could please excuse me I have to make some phone calls." He sat back down in his chair, flipped his rolex, and dialed a phone number.

Rory practically stormed out of the office. She hated that he brought that side out of her. The side that had this appetite for just beating him at everything. There was this sudden need for her to beat him. To beat him at his own game. If she was going too do that, she would have to study. Study really hard. This was Chilton all over again.

For the rest of the day, she got acquainted with her tasks. Basically all of Ambassador Dugrey's calls would come through her first. She would make sure that they were worth his time and if they weren't she would tell him he was busy. Secondly she had to keep track of all his appointments and make sure he made them. That shouldn't be too hard, she thought. Then of course there were the odds and ends she had to do.

When she left work at five o'clock she went straight home, made a pot of coffee, turned on her computer, and went straight to She ordered a good ten books, thinking that was a starting point, then took to the newspaper. Luckily there was an English version, but she knew that if she was going to do this well she would have to learn the language. Perhaps she would talk to Signor Franco about tutoring her.

Although she tried really hard not to think about him, she did. She came to the conclusion, that perhaps this whole would be easier if she didn't think of him as Tristan, but Mr. Dugrey or Ambassador Dugrey. This way she might be able not to think about how it use to be. He would be like whole different person to her. If she drilled it into her head, not to see him how he use to be, but solely as her boss, she might be able to do her job well. And she would do her job well there is no doubt about that.

After about four hours of studying to the best extent she could, Rory decided to call her Mom.

"Hello this is Lorelai Gilmore Danes speaking," Lorelai answered the phone in a British accent.

Rory knowing her mother's nature and needing a little bit of cheering up decided to play along. "Hello Mother. How has your day been?"

"It's been absolutely wonderful darling. What about yours?"

Her only response was a groan.

"That is no way to respond young lady. You must speak with words not sounds."

"Mom, the ambassador wasn't who I thought he was going to be," Rory said vaguely.

"What do you mean? Is he some greasy, slimy Italian guy?"

Taking a deep breath, "No something even worse than that. He's Tristan Dugrey."

Lorelai started laughing, "Now Rory he can't be that bad."

Impatiently she replied, "Mom you don't understand. He is Tristan Dugrey. As in the ambassador's name is Tristan Dugrey. As in the guy who completely ruined my life ten years ago."

All Rory heard was a ceramic cup drop through the phone. "Mom? Mom are you okay?"

"Yeah I'm fine. I just dropped my coffee. Rory, are you okay?"

"Oh I'm just peachy," she responded sarcastically.

"Rory..."

"Mom, I'm going to do my job whether or not Tristan is my boss. And I've realized that I might be able to look past who he is and just see him as my boss and nothing else. I will have no emotional grudge against the ambassador." She was serious and her mother was perhaps the one person to understand that.

"That's very big of you Rory." Lorelai's admiration of her daughter was also self-evident, but in this particular circumstance when Rory didn't have to be the nicest person in the world, she still was and that made Lorelai proud.

"Thank you."

"So do you like everyone you're going to be working with?" Lorelai changed the subject to a lighter tone.

"They all seem great. Robert Young, the director of communications, has been more than generous."

"That's good."

"I know. I think this might be okay. Besides the whole Tristan thing I think that this could be a great experience," Rory hoped.

"There's the optimistic girl I know and love. Sweetie, I'm sorry but I got to go, Sookie just walked out here crying about how the french onion soup is going to be horrible tonight. I love you and talk to you soon," Lorelai said rushed and went off to attend to the best friend the chef.

"Love you too." Rory knew her mom didn't hear it, but it never felt right not ending a phone conversation without the word "love."

Changing into pajama pants and a tank top and turning off the lights, Rory climbed into the comfortable bed and feel asleep. Unlike the night before though this sleep wasn't dreamless.

Rory was standing on the balcony of an apartment overlooking the ocean. It was light out and Rory could smell the salty air and the ocean breeze. She was dressed in an orange sarong and a white tank top. This was definitely good weather for December. For a moment she thought about the cold Connecticut weather that her mother was facing, but her thoughts were interrupted as she felt and heard a rumbling. It wasn't very strong, but she still felt it.

Then she saw it. There was the biggest mass of water. It overtook her. At the last moment she grabbed onto a tree, right next to the edge of balcony. There was nothing in her mind, just this blankness. Nothing. She felt the water around her, but didn't feel it. It engulfed her and she tried her hardest to keep her head above water, but she couldn't. She tried, but couldn't do it. Taking one last breath, the water covered her forehead...she woke up.

Her chest brought her head from the pillow. She was panting heavily and covering her heart with her hand. She was reliving that day. She had to get her mind off it.

Rory looked at the clock on her night stand and saw that it read 3:15. Her head fell back on the pillow and to herself she said, "Well I can't very well sleep now." She laid there for a few more minutes, then got up and took a nice, hot, long shower. By the time she stepped out of the steamy bathroom, the clock read 4:01. She had four hours to kill.

Making herself a cup of coffee, she opened up the second book she had brought with her. The next thing she knew it was seven o'clock.

An hour later she arrived at the embassy and was ready for another day of work.

She got through the first few hours fine. Most of the callers were from the U.S. or people that knew to speak English.

At her lunch hour, she realized that everyone's breaks in this country were two hours long. She found it very charming that husbands and fathers went home to their families for lunch.

Deciding to take advantage of this long lunch hour, Rory walked around Rome. She stopped at a pizza shop and ordered pizza a taglia (pizza by the slice). After she was finished with that she realized that she had to yet to try Italian gelato, so she found the nearest store and ordered some. After a big heaping of the best ice cream she ever tested, Rory strolled back to the embassy.

The ambassador had not returned from lunch yet, so Rory organized her desk and went over some paperwork that had made it's way there during her lunch hour.

Interrupting her tasks, an all too familiar voice spoke to her. "Rory, can you come into my office for a moment?"

"Yes sir," Rory said properly.

Tristan at first didn't notice Rory's formality. Then it struck him. Why was she calling him "sir"? He decided not to call her on, but made a note of the occurrence.

Before he said anything he sat down at his desk and instructed Rory to do the same.

"How was lunch?"

"It was fine," Rory said shortly. "And yours?"

"Productive," Tristan responded, following Rory's suit. He always seemed to fall right into step with her. That was something he never really liked about his actions when he was around her. "The reason why I asked to speak with you is because on Saturday night, well, there is the annual ball that Italy's Prime Minister hosts every year for all the foreign dignitaries and me being one of them, I have an obligation to attend."

"Do you need me to make an appointment or something?" Rory asked tucking a piece of hair behind her hair.

Watching that small action, made this more and more harder for Tristan to do. "No not exactly."

"Well what is it then?"

He wanted to make this sound as business as possible. "You see everyone there is going to be there with a date."

"Do you need me to find you a date?" she asked, wondering what exactly her involvement was going to be.

Tristan cleared his throat nervously, "No, I was wondering if you would go with me."

"Me? Why? You could get any girl to go with you."

"Well I need someone who can make a good impression with everyone that is present and who better than my assistant who has my same agenda."

"Don't you think that might give people the wrong message or something Mr. Dugrey?"

"No. I need an appropriate date. This isn't exactly just a ball, it's more like a business event."

"I see." Rory didn't really like the sound of this. He wanted her to be his date for some fancy ball. First, she didn't well with those types of things. Second, she just didn't want to go with him. And thirdly, she just didn't want to go with him. It's funny how that one little detail of him made the whole thing unattractive.

He knew that she didn't like these types of things and if he could he wouldn't be asking her this at all. Although he knew that this was the one thing he couldn't bring some blonde clinging on his arm to. This was going to be his formal introduction to the international arena and he had to make a good first impression. For that alone, he would do anything to make sure that Rory would be his date.

As much as he didn't want to go about it this way he had a feeling he knew would have to. "Rory, this is important not only to my career, but to yours."

"What is that suppose to mean?"

"It means that if you don't go, your career could very well be in..."

"Be in what? Jeopardy? You are unbelievable!" she said exasperated.

"Don't turn this into anything more than it has to be. I can schedule a fitting appointment for you at any of the designers in Rome. Just remember that you need to have everything together by Saturday night. I'll be picking you up at seven."

Angrily Rory rose out of the chair, "You know I can't afford any of those places. I have a dress I can wear. And I'll meet you there. You're not picking me up."

"That's not possible. First, you can't wear a dress you've had since college. Second, money is no object. And last, but certainly not least I am picking you up because you don't know where the ball is," he countered.

All he needed was that frustrated look on her face. It was resignation for her. He knew her faces all too well. "So what will it be Prada or Gucci?"

A/N: The chapter title is "Of All The Gin Joints In All The World" by Fall Out Boy.


	3. Standard Lines

Wow 25 reviews for only two chapters! You guys are absolutely amazing. I'm getting a lot of feedback of people saying that is unlike anything they've read and that means a lot of me. I don't really know what makes it original, but I am glad that you think it is. Thanks so so much. Anyway…sorry about making you wait so long for this chapter. I've just started school and it's been kind of hectic. I hope it satisfies you and if it doesn't then, hopefully in the coming chapters everything will be better. Thanks again!

-Lauren (manydreams1216)

**Chapter 3 - Standard Lines**

She had chosen Prada. And here she was, standing in front of the full-length mirror in her bedroom. Her body was adorned in more money than she had ever possessed in her whole life. The black strapless gown accentuated her eyes, making the bright blue stand out against the harsh black. She looked beautiful, but it wasn't exactly her. Maybe black wasn't the right color choice, but it fit her angry mood at the moment she had bought it.

Rory smiled about that day at the Prada boutique. Tristan had handed her his credit card and let's just say she didn't use it modestly. Not only was the $7,000 gown charged, but $500 shoes, and she couldn't go without a handbag so she also purchased a black bag that could hold the essentials. Typical Rory had to bring a book. It wasn't out of habit anymore; it was more like out of sub consciousness. Who knows she might be able to slip away and start reading Dumas.

The doorbell rang and knowing the person who was standing behind it, groaned a little aloud. She walked to the front door and opened it.

For Tristan, ever since that occurrence in his office mere days before the very moment before he was in now, struck him as odd. Rory was as cold as ever. She only addressed him as "Sir," "Mr. Dugrey," or his least favorite coming from her lips "Mr. Ambassador." It was all too formal for him.

She was the first person not to judge him by his position in society and here she was looking at him solely in his status as the ambassador. In other people, that didn't bother him. But from her, it was a punch in the stomach. It made him feel like even less than a person. He much preferred "Bible Boy" or his personal favorite "Spawn of Satan." He reveled in those names, but those were things of the past. He knew that he would probably never hear those words uttered from her lips again and that was what really hurt. And he knew that it was all his fault.

The image before him made it even more difficult. Only one word could describe her, beautiful. She was the only one to ever render him speechless.

"Good evening Mr. Ambassador," Rory greeted.

Stumbling he replied, "G-G-Good Evening, Rory."

"Are you okay?"

Quickly he regained his composure. "Yeah, I'm fine. Let's get going."

The ride over was silent. It bothered Tristan, but barely fazed Rory. She was glad to be lost in her thoughts, although her thoughts disturbed her. He looked good. Definitely looked good in the whole black tuxedo. The outfit led her to a particular night. It was their junior prom at Chilton. He picked her up at her doorstep in a very similar outfit to the one he was wearing now. She was in something completely different. Instead of black, the dress was a light blue that instead of going all the way down to her ankles, it came up to just after her knees.

The beginning of the night was picture perfect. It was May and the weather was beginning to be nice and being the romantic, Tristan had taken her to the backyard of his grandfather's house. It wasn't much of a backyard, but more like a national park. There were trees and flowers and the softest grass Rory had ever felt.

Tristan had laid out a blanket, along with am picnic basket and a small vase with two roses. She could remember what the air smelled like, the scent of Tristan's light cologne, the way his hair looked in the dusk, but the thing she could most remember was the way she felt. At that moment, she knew she had fallen in love him and there was no turning back. Rory had this feeling that she would be totally and completely happy with life if his eyes were the ones looking back her for all of eternity. It sounded corny, but that was how she felt. She loved him.

Her thoughts were interrupted as Tristan informed her they had arrived. Like a gentleman he opened the door for her. Rory couldn't help but feel that if this were any other situation, she would have to think that this whole thing was romantic. Tristan took her arm and linked it with his and from an outsider point of view; they looked like the perfect couple. Rory with her dark brown hair and Tristan with his own blonde locks contrasted, but they fit. It was ying and yang.

Walking up to the largest house or villa (as they call them that in Italy), Rory could hear the gravel underneath her high heels and the only thing that prevented her from falling over was Tristan's support. She hated that. Inwardly she groaned about being so close to him, but on the outside she looked perfect with the perfect smile.

The security guard walked them through the metal detectors. This event was perhaps the most important international political social event in Italy and like anything else; there was always the possibility of terrorists. No one could be too careful these days. Practically every single ambassador to Italy would be there and that made this event all the important. Especially to the United States Ambassador because he or she, in this case Tristan Dugrey, had to do all they could in order to make sure that there would be good social connections established. It was all about keeping up appearances.

After passing through the intense security check, Tristan and Rory made their way to their assigned table where the ambassadors of Great Britain, Australia, Egypt, and the United Arab of Emirates were waiting with their wives for dinner to be served.

"Ambassador Dugrey welcome. I am Philip Kinson of Great Britain and this is my wife Kelly, I believe we met last week."

"Ah, yes. How are you?"

"Wonderful. Isn't great to see everyone here tonight? I don't know one country that declined the prestigious invitation." For a moment Ambassador Kinson, looked in Rory's direction with an inquisitive gleam. "I was not aware you had a wife. It's a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Dugrey."

A sudden idea flashed across Tristan's mind and he could not help but revert back to his sixteen year old self. And before Rory had a change to protest, Tristan said, "Oh, well this is my wife Rory Dugrey," and with a smug look on his face, he turned to Rory and said almost too sweetly, "Sweetheart, this is Ambassador Kinson and his wife Kelly. I met them last week at a luncheon, while you were still back in the states wrapping up loose ends."

Rory couldn't even piece together words at that moment. She didn't have any idea of what to say. She didn't want to believe what Tristan had just said. How could he? He was so going to pay for that little move.

"Do you like Italy so far Mrs. Dugrey?"

She only nodded.

"Your wife is shy, Ambassador," Philip commented.

"Rory's only been here for a few days and I'm sure she hasn't fully adjusted to Italy yet," Tristan tried to cover up Rory's inability to speak.

"The European way of life is definitely different from America," Kelly commented.

"Yes it is."

The food arrived and Rory was amazed at the extent of all the delicious Italian food in front of her. She had never experienced the real, authentic thing in its entirety. The primi piatti was full of bruschetta, calamari, and crostini. Then there was the pasta, then the meats. Rory couldn't get enough. When dessert finally came around, Rory was full, but that didn't stop her from trying the tiramisu. The whole experienced detracted her from Tristan's announcement that she was his wife. For the two hours, it didn't bother.

Meanwhile, Tristan was consumed talking with the other ambassadors at his table. They all communicated in Italian, so he knew that Rory did not understand what was being said.

Once the dessert was cleared away, he knew this was his opportunity to introduce himself to the rest of the diplomats present. He knew he would have to Rory with him.

In her ear he requested, "Rory we're going to talk to the Italian Prime Minister."

Feeling his hot breath on her skin, Rory shivered.

By the time they rose out of their chairs, everyone else had either made their way to the dance floor or had the same idea Tristan had.

Taking Rory's arm, they made their way over to a staunch, short man, who looked like he jumped out of The Godfather movies.

"Mr. Prime Minister, I am Tristan Dugrey of the United States and this is my wife, Rory." He had to keep up the guise.

"Buona sera. You are the new American ambassador, correct?"

"Yes."

"Well, welcome to Italy. I'm sure that we will meet each other many times in the future and that our relationship will be full of cooperation."

"I am sure it will be."

Before the Prime Minister had a chance to speak again, a man with glasses came up beside him and whispered something into his ear. Then the Prime Minister turned to Tristan, "I'm afraid I am going to have to be pulled away for the moment."

"No problem sir."

"Have a good night and enjoy yourselves."

Tristan simply nodded and the staunch, short man walked away.

"Well that went well as it could have gone, I guess," Tristan commented lightly.

Suddenly Rory had an outburst, "How dare you introduce me to everyone as your wife! You slimy, no good bastard!"

He grabbed her hand and led her away from the crowd. "Rory, shut up!"

Now that they were away from everybody and in some room off the main ballroom, she decided to let him have it, "Don't tell me to shut up! You have no right to tell me that! I don't believe you Tristan. You have not changed. You are still the awful, despicable creature that I despise!"

"Rory calm down," Tristan ordered, putting his hand over her mouth.

He could feel Rory protesting underneath his hand, but nonetheless he continued speaking, "The only way I am going to take my hand off your lovely mouth is if you promise to stop your ranting. Do you promise?" She reluctantly nodded. "Good. Now we can go back to the party."

"Oh no, don't think you are getting off that easy. Tristan you can't keep telling me that I am your wife."

"And why not?"

"Because I'm not your wife."

He moved very close to her. There was about two inches between them. "Rory there is something you are going to have to learn about the diplomatic arena. In order to get what you want, you have to appease your opponents."

"And this comes at the price of me being considered your wife?"

"Yes. You want to represent the United States well don't you?"

Through her teeth she gritted, "Of course."

"Now let's get back to the party. I believe they have started dancing."

The next thing she knew Tristan was leading her in some dance, that she had no idea what the name was, but followed his lead. She hated that he was able to do that to her. He made her fall into the witty, wily Rory that she thought had disappeared a long time ago. He put her on her toes and she didn't know what to think when she was with him. Nothing was ever completely stable and she knew that at any point in time he could push her off the pedestal she had positioned herself on.

All she could feel was Tristan underneath her fingertips. He was warm and felt ever the same he did ten years ago. His arms around her made her feel safe as ever. She hadn't felt this way in so long, but why was Tristan out of all people the same person to evoke these feelings. She asked herself over the years, why couldn't it have been Dean or Jess or her most recent relationship Logan? They were all great guys. It just didn't make sense to her why they weren't able to kinder the same feelings that Rory felt for Tristan.

No, she did not have feelings for him. There was no way she did. She use to and look where that got her, a broken heart. She got over him at least that was what she told herself. She was over him. Repeating to herself she said, _I do not have feelings for Tristan Dugrey. I do not have feelings for Tristan Dugrey. I do not have feelings for Tristan Dugrey._

Little did Rory know that Tristan was repeating to himself the same words to himself. _I do not have feelings for Rory Gilmore. _He didn't. The only odd feeling inside of him was recent lack of sleep. They were too any things going on and in order to stay up-to-date he had to be awake into the bizarre hours of the morning. That was what was bothering him and nothing else.

It wasn't the fact that Rory was his assistant or that she was in an inch away from him at this very moment. No that was not it all. He was still trying to ease into being ambassador. The post had been his for a couple of weeks and he was still in his green period.

The song ended and before the orchestra had a chance to start another one, Rory stepped away from Tristan as fast as possible. Before she disappeared into the mass of people, she looked back at him. She didn't know why she looked back, she just did.

He didn't want to her to walk off. He wanted to hold her again and feel the soft black material in his fingers that was covering her even softer skin. He had not lost his touch after all these for her. There were things that reminded him of her and now soft black material would be added to that list.

"Rory dance with me." This time it wasn't a demand.

Why did he have to do that? She didn't understand. All she knew was that in a mere second afterward, she was in his arms again and there was something unspoken between them. And neither of them could tell you what it was.

A/N: The chapter title is named after the song Standard Lines by Dashboard Confessional.


	4. The Transition

Ciao a tutti! Thought I would get in the Italian spirit. Anyway…thanks for waiting extra long for this chapter. I know it has been a wait, but I am in school again so it is definitely a task to get this out, but I am trying. Hopefully I will get a chapter out at least every two weeks, maybe every week if I'm good. Thanks so much for the amount of review. They're all positive and that is a definite bonus. 35 is a big number for only three chapters. I hope you all enjoy this next installment. It might have a little more history.

Thanks

-Lauren (manydreams1216)

**Chapter 4 – The Transition**

Waking up the next morning, Rory wondered how she got into this unfamiliar bed. There were no white sheets covering her. They were navy blue instead. In place of the white walls, there were dark mahogany shelves covering grey walls. The room had to be described in one work only and that word was massive. And Rory thought her apartment was big. This essentially dwarfed her whole apartment.

She glanced her blue eyes toward the pillow next to her and saw the imprint. Then she heard the sound of falling water. It was coming from a closed door about five feet away from where Rory was laying down.

Suddenly it all came back to her. The night before at the prime minister's party and then there was the dancing and then somehow they came back to Tristan's townhouse. She slept with him. She slept with him. Running her hands over her face and through her hair she let out a frustrated groan.

It had been a week. Only a week! At least last time she had put up more of a fight.

"How could I let this happen?" Rory asked herself softly. She didn't like the way she was feeling right now. It was almost like she cheated on herself. Never would she become his girl again. She promised that to herself after he left. If he ever came back, she would never become his girl again.

Her soul would become entrapped in the same place it was all those years ago. She would be so in love with him that all of her former dreams would be dashed and she would be content being his trophy girlfriend and like her grandmother had hoped his wife. There was nothing wrong with that. It was a common occurrence she saw with her friends. Although she didn't want that to happen to her. She wanted to live her life the way she had dreamed since she was five. She didn't want to be tied down and she knew that if she stayed with him then that's where she would end up.

It was him who broke her. As much as Rory didn't want to admit it, it was how she got to where she was today. She wasn't as innocent and naïve anymore. Nor was she as timid and shy. Today she was a different person. Someone she was proud of even if at came at the price of Tristan Dugrey.

The water fell over his tan body softly. It woke him up. The usual routine of waking up and taking a shower was disturbed this morning as he noticed he wasn't alone in his bed. That was not an odd occurrence, but the light skin and dark brown hair was something that was. Tristan knew exactly who it was, by just a mere glance. He let out a long sigh before he made his way and continued with his usual routine.

He had to treat her like that. Perhaps if it was any other time, he would have woken her up with a kiss or a slight touch on her bare shoulder, but he didn't. She had to become like all those other girls he bedded. It had to be simple.

Unfortunately the water was not able to shake away the feeling of betrayal and disappointment that he felt within himself. Why was it with everyone else he didn't feel like this? Normally he could do this without a second thought. But she was lying in his bed and that killed him. She woke up with no one beside her. He hated the thought.

Reluctantly he turned off the water, dried himself off and wrapped a towel around his waist.

Opening the door, he saw her. She was still lying down, but her eyes were open. He took a deep breath and walked over to her.

Rory felt the mattress sink beneath. He was right beside her and she had no idea what to say.

Luckily she did not have to speak first. Tristan did. "Rory."

She turned to face him and then she sat up. Modestly she made sure that a sheet covered her. "Hi," she said meekly.

"Hi how are you?"

"I'm okay, you?" she asked considerately.

He nodded, "I'm fine. Can I get you anything?"

"Coffee?" she asked shyly.

Tristan smiled, "How could I forget such a Gilmore necessity? Let me go put the coffee on." He went into the kitchen, turned the pot on then went to face Rory.

As soon as he sat down, Rory spoke. She knew that this had to be brought up sooner or later so she decided to be the first one to do it. "Tristan, what was last night?"

The only words he could form were, "I don't know."

"What if you did know? We can't just ignore this, even if we could we can't."

"I know," he said simply.

"You're not giving me anything to work with."

"Rory what do you want me to say?" he asked impatiently.

"Something!" Rory yelled.

He stood up and began to pace across the dark hardwood floor. "Rory, last night was amazing. There aren't any other words for it, but it can't happen again."

"You're right. It can't happen again."

"Right," Tristan responded shortly.

"Okay then. I'm going to put on my clothes then head out."

He didn't move. "Uhh, Tristan?"

"Yeah?"

"Can you move? I have to use the sheet…"

"Oh sure." He rose up from the bed and let her take the sheet so that she could find her clothes covered up. Within a matter of five minutes, Rory was dressed and ready to leave. Meanwhile Tristan had retrieved a robe so he did not have just a towel covering him.

Once Rory was ready, Tristan being the gentleman walked her to the door.

"Are you sure you don't want me to get my driver to give you a ride home?" Tristan offered again.

"No it's all right. I need time to clear my head anyway."

"Yeah."

"Okay I'll see you tomorrow then."

"Yeah, see you tomorrow." Is all he could "yeah, see you tomorrow?"

"Bye." Rory did not know why, but she stayed in his presence. She wanted to move out from underneath his gaze, but she waited. There was something she was waiting for and she was hoping that maybe he might do it.

Tristan looked into her blue eyes and he wanted to tell her that he didn't want her to leave, but that could not happen. So softly, he kissed her forehead. Underneath his lips he felt her sigh. "Goodbye Rory."

Her feet allowed her to move, gave a little wave and entered the streets of Rome. She sort of wandered around. Her thoughts were consumed of last night. As much as she wouldn't admit it aloud, she had to admit to herself that last night was something she had wanted to happen.

She wanted to her him say her name like that again, in that voice full of need, not want and passion. She always hoped that someone could say her name like that and low and behold it was Tristan Dugrey who was able to accomplish the task.

It wasn't the first time they had sex. The last time was fourteen years ago. The last time was for all the wrong reasons. Sure they loved each other, but their relationship was towards its end and she thought that maybe just maybe if she slept with him they could stay together.

From the start of their relationship all those years ago, there had been some underlying tension that had yet to be expressed and Rory felt that the tension was due to the face that she had not "given in." It sounded stupid and petty in retrospect, but at the time she honestly thought that sleeping with him would be the one way she could stay with him.

By God she would have done anything to stay with him.

People around them were troubled by the relationship. Perhaps the most striking thing was that if you knew anything about Tristan Dugrey, you knew that commitment was not exactly a word in his vocabulary. Yet he was dating the one girl that valued commitment, trust, and honest above everything else.

And at first it troubled Rory. How did she know that when she wasn't with him his tongue wasn't down someone else's throat? She didn't. Although she was confident that it wasn't. She had to be. He cared about her. When they were together there was the look in his eye that told her he reciprocated the same feelings. He had the sparkle in his eye when he looked at her.

Sometimes it was the sparkle that scared her. He would get jealous when a male classmate would ask to borrow her notes or ask to study with her. Of course she would decline, but Tristan would always question her about it. It was almost like he didn't trust her or didn't want to.

One day it erupted. Henry, Lane's "boyfriend" is one could call him that, asked for her calculus notes and unfortunately Tristan was rounding the corner when he saw the exchange.

"So Henry, the pink highlighter is for definitions and the green is for formulas. Sometimes there are notes scribbled on the sides. They might not make much sense so just don't pay attention to those." Rory handed the notes to Henry.

"Thanks so much Rory. You're a lifesaver. You have no idea how much I owe you," Henry expressed.

"Don't worry about it."

Henry nodded and walked away. Rory breathed lightly for a second before she heard him.

"Rory what did that guy want?" Tristan asked impatiently and almost bordering on the line of being mean.

"Henry? Oh he just wanted my calc notes, why?"

"What was he going to do with them?"

Rory opened her eyes and blanked at Tristan. Then she sarcastically replied, "Study maybe?"

"Oh." Slowly Tristan realized the stupidity of the question.

"What's up with you today?"

"Nothing," he responded shortly.

"Come on, let's go to English. I don't want to be late like I have been for the four times this week," Rory stated and she began walking towards the English classroom.

Tristan followed her, but before they entered the class he asked for Rory's attention, "Rory?"

"What?" she turned around to face him.

"Don't let anyone borrow your notes anymore."

"What?" she said disbelieved.

"Don't let anyone borrow your notes anymore," he repeated. This time he said it more firmly.

"Did you just give me an order or something?"

"I asked you not to give your notes to anyone."

"You can't tell me who I can and can't give my notes to Tristan," Rory replied.

His blue eyes pleaded with hers. "Please Rory."

"Why not?" she demanded an explanation.

"Because…" his voice trailed off.

Rory's hands placed themselves on her hips. " Because why? Come on Tristan tell me why I can't give someone my notes."

He blurted out, "Because you'll cheat on me!"

Her eyes widened and her mouth dropped. She couldn't form words. All she could think was that the whole thing was preposterous. He thought she was going to cheat on him! In her mind that was not even plausible. It never even crossed it. And that was the impression he got from her giving notes?

"Rory, come on we have to get class," Tristan said, trying to snap her out of the mode that was scaring him.

When he went to grab her hand, she forcefully took it's out of his grasp, walked passed him and went into the classroom. This was the first time Rory Gilmore did not pay full attention in class. All of her attention was diverted towards, why was he thinking like that? She couldn't believe him.

All she could remember was people telling them in the first weeks of their relationship that it was not going to last and he was going to be the one to cheat on her. It was too much for her. If their roles had been reversed, Rory knew that she would not get jealous. It did not make sense to her. Even Dean had never been this jealous. Okay, maybe he was a little worse, but Tristan? No. No possible way.

Without waiting for Tristan she walked out of class as soon as the bell rang and went to the bus stop. Normally her boyfriend would give her a ride home, but that day she didn't want to deal with him. Although her reverie was interrupted as the familiar silver Porsche pulled up alongside the sidewalk.

"Rory can you please get in the car?"

"No," she replied simply.

"Please come on, don't fight with me."

"Of course I'm going to fight with you!" she countered.

The tear of endearment came out next. He had to rely on his guns. "Mary please, I don't want to do this in front of everyone."

Rory felt her shoulders drag down and then reluctantly she placed her shoulder on her back and went inside the car.

They didn't say anything for the entire ride. Both of them were lost in their own thoughts.

Tristan had pulled the car into Rory's driveway and they sat there for a moment, before Tristan had the courage apologize, "I'm sorry."

"You should be," Rory replied bitterly.

"Come on Rory give me a break!"

Angrily she asked, "Give you a break? What about giving me a break? I've never done anything that would even let you think that I betrayed you in any way shape or form. I've done nothing."

With his head down, he solemnly replied, "You're right. You haven't done anything wrong. Rory," he paused, "I just get jealous."

"I know, but you have nothing to be jealous about. I am all yours." She put her hands on his face and brought his head up so he would be forced to look at her.

Tristan's shameful eyes tried their hardest to avoid her honest ones. "I don't like seeing you with other guys, even if it's just talking."

"Well unfortunately half of the people on Earth are males Tristan, so there are going to be times when I must talk with them."

"I know."

"Then what are you so afraid of huh?"

He finally looked her straight and her hands dropped to her lap. "I'm afraid I'm going to lose you."

"You shouldn't be afraid of that."

"Why shouldn't I be? Rory you are way too good for me. Not only do I know that, but the whole world knows that."

"But I'm with you doesn't that mean anything?"

"Yes, but how long are you going to be with me? What if some great guy who is 100 times better than me comes along and you fall in love with him? Where does that leave me?" Tristan revealed his innermost fears.

They had never said the word "love" around each other yet. They were still in their easy period of flowers and candies. "Tristan, there is only you. I love you!"

Tristan's eyes widened at her words. Rory's hand flew to her mouth.

After a moment, Tristan took Rory's hand off her mouth and said, "Don't be scared Rory. I love you too."

"Really?"

"I've loved you since the first time I saw you. I know that's cheesy, but I want you to know that's how I feel."

A smile adorned Rory's face. "I'm glad that's how you feel."

And with that they had their first kiss since declaring their love.

Rory looked on that as a bittersweet memory. They were declaring their love, but it was also a rocky beginning to the hardest relationship she had ever been in. Little did she know how hard the relationship was going to be.

A/N: The chapter title is after The Transition by Hawthorne Heights


	5. Best I Ever Had

I want to say that I am extremely horrible at not getting this out sooner. I hope it's okay. I haven't had the chance to write and I wanted to make this longer, but I haven't had the time too. Hopefully in the next month I'll find a little bit more time. Thanks for waiting extra extra long.

Thanks for all the reviews that just keep getting better and better,

Lauren (manydreams1216)

**Chapter 5 – Best I Ever Had**

Monday morning passed by, as did Tuesday, as did Wednesday, and as did the rest of the week. Of course there was the tension you could cut with a knife, but beyond that business was usual.

In the morning Rory would bring the ambassador his usual of a cup of coffee and the mail. Then she would go over his schedule for the day. After that, the ambassador would give her a list of tasks and then they would go their separate ways and immerse themselves in their job.

To both of them, their jobs were welcome distractions to their thoughts and their appearance of problems. Rory studied Italian history and foreign diplomacy vigorously and was starting to become slightly obsessed. She had spoken to Signor Franco about tutoring her. Twice a week she had hour-long lessons and she was becoming quite good in the language. She no longer needed an intern to answer the phones. She could do it herself.

Tristan was working insane hours trying to make productive ties within the Italian government, businesses and people. He had even received praise from Washington in the progress he was making. In a month, more Italian businesses were trading and more people were traveling between the two countries. Tristan was invited to more events all over Italy, which was showing the Italians were readily accepting this new ambassador and a good friendship was being formed.

Except for the usual rendezvous in the morning in the ambassador's office, Tristan and Rory avoided each other at all costs. There was the occasional run-in in the hallways, but other than that there were no unnecessary contacts. Both of them stuck with the pretense that it would never happen again.

It was frustrating. There was that tension you could cut with a knife, yet there was a certain degree of understanding. Obviously there were feelings that were expressed in the night of passion they shared; yet neither was willing to admit it. Why else would they have slept together, if there were not some attraction? Rory acknowledged to herself that she was attracted to Tristan. She always had been and most likely always would be. Perhaps that was what disturbed her the most.

There was just something about him. Something that made her bend to his every whim.

Little did she know that he was the same way. He had the same tendency to appease her. She didn't know that and that's what he liked. In high school he would tease her incessantly and both of them knew she liked that, even if she said she didn't.

And in a way he was doing it again, although this time it was being accomplished through silence. Not only was it painstakingly frustrating and annoying to Rory, but also she knew that it could have been handled a lot better. They could at least be a little friendlier.

When normal people sleep together, that usually means more conversation, but not for Rory and Tristan. Oh no, these two had to make it complicated and pretend that nothing happened at all. And that was what bothered Rory the most. They were going about their daily lives and fully ignoring the previous intimate actions that took place.

Why couldn't they be adults for once? Is it really all that hard? They basically shied away from everything that happened. It didn't exist. Although if that were true, why was there this tension between them? Maybe there was always the tension there, but this kind of tension was nonsensical.

Part of her wanted to lock her and Tristan inside a room until they figured out all their problems and came to a point when they weren't so awkward anymore. The action was completely out of her character, but she still thought that it might work. Perhaps maybe not locking them in the room part, but maybe if she just spoke to Tristan. A few words could help them out much better.

One day Rory had finally gathered up enough courage to talk to the ambassador.

It was after their usual morning appointment.

"Rory I think that's it for today," Tristan said and began turning around in his chair in order to start answering his voicemail.

Timidly Rory spoke, "Umm, I was wondering if I could talk to you about something."

Tristan was taken aback by the request and shifted uncomfortably in his chair. He turned around to face her. "Sure what is it?"

Looking down at her hands she said, "I still don't think that we've fully addresses what happened a month ago."

"Rory­–" he cut off.

"No let me finish please. I feel like we are way too awkward around each other. It has never been like that. We could always talk, you know? I don't want us to not be on speaking terms, because that's just being unproductive. Normally co-workers have a pleasant relationship and I just feel like we've let what happened get in the way of our work." Finishing, she took a deep breath and finally looked up at him.

Tristan swallowed. He always knew Rory to be the type that had to be in control of the way things were going. Granted he didn't like it either, but there he hated how she always managed to get some sort of an upper hand. She was always one step above him, even if everyone else didn't think so.

"I suppose you're right. I'll make a more conscience effort to be better to work with."

"You're not hard to work with, ambassador."

"Then what is it?"

She sighed, "We avoid each other."

"No we don't," he denied, knowingly.

"Yes we do. We're being cordial with each other. It's almost like…" her voice trailed.

"What?"

"It's nothing."

"Yes, it's something."

She took a deep breath. "It's like we don't even know each other. I hope we haven't belittled our relationship down to nothing, like it didn't even exist. I don't know if you know this, but our time, when we were together, meant a lot to me. I'm not willing to let that go."

Did she just really say that? Had she said that she still thought about them together? Tristan thought about her everyday. It wasn't just thinking, he would even call it obsessing. He didn't want. He tired his hardest to prevent it, but it never happened. She would someone seep herself into his mind. He'd be lying if he said he didn't think about her. The brown hair and blue eyes, he thought about. Every girl he dated was the exact opposite. They were blonde and dumb. He couldn't deal with a girl that was intelligent. It would defeat the whole purpose of getting away from her. He had to admit, that was what he was doing, getting away from her.

Why did he have to have all these pent up feelings? They would never just go away. Wasn't ten years away from him enough? The saying is true. Absence makes the heart grow fonder. How he hated that!

"Rory I don't think our relationship was nothing. Contrary to what you think, the time we spent together was the most important time of my life–"

"Then why are we ignoring each other?" she demanded.

"Because if I don't ignore you, I'll do something I'll regret," he admitted.

"Like what?"

Frustrated he stood up and ran his hands through his hair. "Do you realize how hard it is to be five feet away from you and not be able to kiss you? I can't even describe what you do to me."

"Then why do you act like we don't know each other? Is it so you can keep yourself in check? I don't get it."

Under his breath he muttered, "You never did."

Despite his wish, Rory heard Tristan's comment. "Tristan you're the one that broke it off, remember?"

"Rory you knew that it was a long time coming."

"So? We could have worked at. It didn't have to end the way it did," she said hopelessly.

"It ended the way it did because that was the only way it could have ended."

Finally not being able to deal with it, Rory stood up and slammed her fists on his desk, "You cheated on me! That's the only way it could have ended? All you needed was a simple, 'Let's break up.' You broke my heart into a million pieces."

"I know and I could never forgive myself for that," he yelled back. Then softly, he said, "With you Rory, it was never simple. I wasn't ready for the feelings that I had for you–"

She cut him off, "And I was? I loved you so much and believe me that scared me too, but I didn't run and hide like you. I gave you everything I had. You know I did. I was just never enough."

"No Rory. Don't tell yourself that. You were more than enough. I was never good enough for you. Everyone thought it was the other way, but it wasn't. If you only knew how much I did love you."

"Then what happened? If you really cared for me as much as you do, you wouldn't be breaking my heart," she demanded answers for the pain he had caused her.

It was so hard to say it, "I had to."

"Why?" she asked again. She wasn't going to go without an answer.

"I just had to okay? Leave it at that Rory or you'll be more hurt than you ever were before," he warned. It was the truth.

"I give up with you Tristan. I keep thinking that maybe that night meant more to you or something. I'm here trying to figure it out. I guess I finally have become one more notch in your bedpost."

With that she walked out of his office. She really hoped that maybe she could get more out of him. She didn't want to become another notch, but now she knew that was all she was. If he couldn't tell her why they broke up, then maybe it wasn't suppose to be anything more than just sex. Before their conversation there was a small part in Rory's heart that hoped maybe they could rekindle something. Even if it was small, she hoped that maybe something would happen. Maybe he would finally be honest with her and maybe they could become a sophisticated couple that they could never in their high school years.

It wouldn't happen though. It never would happen. No matter if she wished it would, it wouldn't.

The tears were about to come so before the rest of the office could see them, Rory rushed into the bathroom and shut herself up inside a stall. She let the tears flow freely. She had never done that about him before. She told herself that she would never cry about him. Yet now she was. Maybe she finally got some answers. Even if they didn't satisfy her, she still had something she never had fourteen years ago. He had admitted that he really did love her. It at least compensated for something. Also even if he hadn't said it directly, they didn't break up because of her. It was something that had to do with him. And with him, she never had any control.

Taking deep breaths, she regained her composure. She wiped her eyes, redid her hair into a ponytail and splashed a little water on her face.

Like always she walked on with a smile, only covering the sadness she felt inside.

AN: The chapter title is after the song Best I Ever Had (Grey Sky Morning) by Vertical Horizon.


	6. It Ends Tonight

Hey everyone! I'm sorry about not updating in a long time. This is starting to become a bad habit. First this is kind of a set up chapter. It has a lot of character thoughts and upcoming decisions. Second, you all are amazing for reading this. I can't get over how many positive reviews I get. And KeitaWolf…I never exactly apologized about the designer not being Gucci. I already had the chapter written. I hope the choice of designer was okay. Prada's not a bad second and I prefer their handbags, but Gucci definitely has better clothes. Sorry for the side note, I hope you enjoy it! Sorry about the long wait!

Lauren (manydreams1216)

**Chapter 6 – It Ends Tonight**

It had been two weeks since the confrontation. Nothing really changed. They still were avoiding each other and their daily meetings were becoming shorter and shorter because the conversations were getting more awkward and more awkward. Maybe it was just better this way. Maybe they weren't supposed to have anything more than the horrible relationship that have now.

And Rory was starting to act like he didn't even exist. He had become Ambassador Dugrey and no one else. She took him out of the equation whenever she was talking about work. Lorelai even noticed it, but she didn't say anything. She knew that if something was bothering Rory she would tell her. Rory wasn't saying anything, but Lorelai knew not to press the issue.

There was a motherly instinct telling her something was going on. There was something holding her back from saying anything. Lorelai was always one of those hands off mothers. She would listen to Rory whenever Rory wanted her too, but she knew that Rory would have to learn from her own experiences and Lorelai could not prevent her from experiencing the world.

Of course, there had been times when Lorelai had wanted to interfere and those times did involve one Tristan Dugrey, but she knew she couldn't. Rory would just have to learn. She didn't want her to learn, but she had to.

It broke Lorelai's heart the day she saw Rory come through the front door with a broken look in her eyes. She was not crying.

The front door opened slowly.

"Rory? Rory is that you?" Lorelai was on the couch watching a movie and she heard the door open, but she didn't know if it was her daughter.

Quietly she heard, "Hi Mom."

"Hey Rory," she rose out of her position on the couch. "How was Tristan's house?"

"We broke up," Rory stated simply.

"What?"

"We broke up," Rory repeated in monotone.

"What happened?"

"I walked in on Tristan having sex with another girl. I had heard rumors, but I didn't actually think they were true. I guess I should have believed them," Rory replied, never facing her mother.

Letting out a deep sigh, Lorelai had no idea what to say. She couldn't even imagine what her daughter was feeling right about now. The man she loved broke her heart. It couldn't be described any simpler than that.

"I'm going to bed. I'll see you in the morning." Rory walked off towards her bedroom and that was last Lorelai saw of her till the next morning.

The phone didn't ring. So he wasn't trying to get her back. There were no attempts. And Rory had not come out expecting a phone call. It was almost understood to some degree.

Rory had continued on with life. Nothing else had stopped her. She had gone through more relationships. There was Jess. She knew why Rory was attracted to him. He was the bad boy with a love of books and intrigued her for a while. Then he left to find himself.

After that Rory abstained from boys during her first year at Yale. It was then that she had decided to change her major. She would still stay on the Yale Daily News, but instead of reporting on different parts of the world, she would become a part of the people trying to change the world. Rory had decided she wanted to be more hands on in changing the world.

Then in her second year, Logan Huntzberger had arrived on the scene. He probably scared Lorelai the most out of all of Rory's before and after Tristan boyfriends. He was the most like Tristan. He was dangerous, smart, and rich. All the same ingredients that Tristan had contained, except there was one problem. He was not Tristan Dugrey.

There was something missing in Rory and Logan's relationship. Sure he had blond hair and blue eyes, but he was not Tristan. Of course he had a great personality and made Rory laugh and forget about everything else in the world, however there lacked a certain spark. The banter wasn't the same.

They lasted for five years. It was in Rory's final year of graduate school that they finally called it quits. They both knew she would be going far away and frankly they were mainly staying together because they were comfortable. Of course they loved each other that was never the issue.

Even though they both did not want to admit it, love wasn't enough sometimes. You needed to be in love and instead of wasting some of the best years of their lives they decided to break it off.

Logan knew about Rory's past and what Tristan Dugrey had put her through. He knew that when she said she was over him she really wasn't. For a while he was able to look past that, but towards the end of their relationship he could not get past the fact that she still was not over the man from her past and therefore she could not move on with her future. So he ended it. It was done amicably and Rory knew it was going to come sooner or later and she knew that it was her fault. She wanted him to be happy and unfortunately that was not going to happen with her.

Rory had dated here and there, but nothing ever really sparked her interest.

Ironically Tristan had gone through a similar time. It was true that maybe he was a little more willing to move on then Rory was, but every single member of the opposite sex he had met, had become blurred together.

He could not tell you what one of them looked like. There was this immense sea of blonde, brown, and red hair full of blue, green and brown eyes. There were combinations of each with names, but he couldn't identify them.

Only one face stood out and she was from many years ago. And her face had fallen right into his life again. Her brown hair and blue eyes had haunted his sleepless nights for fifteen years and there was no getting away from it.

He would wake up from dreams that she was present in and it would scare him. Tristan had always heard about the possibility that dreams were windows into what the dreamer really thought, but he never exactly believed it was true until Rory entered his life.

Truly it scared him the amount of time he spent thinking about her. He thought he got over her all those years ago. Although in the back of his mind there was always the nagging thought that he hurt her.

He did not want to break her heart like he had that was for sure. If he could change anything in his entire life it would be Rory.

Essentially his mother and father had told him that they could not be together. She was not good enough for him. He argued with them constantly about how she was better than him, but they kept saying that "a girl like that will not want to be Mrs. Dugrey and she would not be a good enough Mrs. Dugrey." They insisted that Rory would want a career and a life, not a husband and children.

There was some foreboding feeling that he had that his parents' reasons were just excuses. It seemed like there were greater reasons for their constant bickering over why Rory should not be in his life. And soon he learned those reasons. They were almost too horrible.

It was all about image. What would happen if Rory Gilmore married Tristan Dugrey? The Gilmores would be happy that was for sure. Another way to elevate their social status, but the Dugreys, that was another story. They weren't happy about Rory Gilmore dating their son, Tristan Dugrey. First, she was too agreeable. Second, she had a mind of her own. And third, there was no way a girl like that would be a good benefactor for the Dugrey fortune. She would put most off it off to charity and of course that image she had. Wow now that was not good enough.

Sure she was great on the surface great family, great face. Although what about her other? She had her when she was 16! It was preposterous. There was no way their son would have a serious relationship with a girl like that. She was not good enough.

Society families always had to look towards the future. They had to make sure their image would be maintained. They were one of the most important families in the world.

When he was younger, Tristan did not understand the exact power that the Dugrey family held, not only in Hartford, but also all over the world. They were big time business people. Everyone knew who they were.

He didn't exactly realize the power until he was in is second year of college. He was in North Carolina at Duke. He did not go to Harvard, Princeton, or Yale like his ancestors, but instead he went to a school that he wanted to go to. He did not want to go back to New England. He liked in down in the upper south. Tristan Dugrey lived in relative obscurity. One day he received a dreaded phone call that his parents had died in a plane crash.

All the processions went by quickly and Tristan would be the first one to say that he did not exactly have a lot of grief. He went through the whole process without expressing any emotion.

He comforted his sister, Kylie, who took it harder than anyone. She was six years older than him and had been working for their dad for the past couple of years after graduating from Harvard's business school early and the head of her class. According to her parents, she failed in comparison to Tristan, the son.

There was almost this chauvinistic characteristic to their family. Kylie was the over-achiever and the one who willing wanted to carry on the Dugrey name in business. She was the perfect child. However because she was a woman, she never could fully personify the Dugrey name in the way her parents wanted it to be. Tristan was the perfect match, but he didn't want it. He didn't want to make tons of money. Of course it would be nice, but he didn't want that. He wanted a life that would satisfy him and Rory helped him realize that.

She showed him an entirely different world that was not full of legalities, but full of happiness and meaning. Maybe it wasn't full of glamour, but it was satisfying and Rory was the first person he had met that was happy.

That was all Tristan ever wanted: happiness. He hoped that it would come with Rory, but outside forces had dictated differently.

His parents had invited Justine Worthington to visit for the weekend all those years ago. Rory had been drifting from him and so he gave in. For the first in his life he lost the most important person to him. He kind of wanted her to find him. He did not want to make it more painful than it had to be.

So when Tristan's parents died, he gave the entire company to his sister. In his father's will it was designated to him, but he didn't want it. His first action as CEO of Dugrey Enterprises was resigning and handing the entire company to his sister. Of course, he maintained the majority of the stock, but his sister was able to live out her dreams.

And now he was living out his. He had a job that he loved. There was a lot bureaucracy involved and of course that required a certain amount of charm and of course that was something he was great at. He was able to put all of his skills to work and he actually felt like he was doing something.

Perhaps the one drawback to the whole thing was that he did not have anyone to share it with. He wanted that one special relationship that would make everything he did wroth something.

And for whatever reason whenever he pictured the person he would share it with it always came down to those blue eyes and soft brown hair. Why did have to haunt her like this?

All he wanted was to get her out of his head. He tried everything. Since the night they had slept together, he had forced himself into work and other women. Although no of it worked. When he woke up, he still wished it were her sleeping next to him.

Tristan was starting to come to the breaking point. If he did not do anything about this empty feeling inside of him then he had this feeling he might self-combust. So he decided to show up on her doorstep, explain every thing, and somehow convince her to give him another chance. Another chance. It gave him a reason to get up in the morning.

AN: The chapter title is after the song It Ends Tonight by The All-American Rejects.


	7. Black Balloon

Well this chapter is a little short, but I think it has a lot of stuff in it. There were a lot of great reviews last chapter and you guys have been very supportive. Hope you like this one too!

Lauren (manydreams1216)

**Chapter 7 – Black Balloon**

It was nine o'clock at night and Rory Gilmore was at a bar by herself. She was trying to get to know the Italians a little better. So while she was sitting on a barstool, nursing a martini, she watched all the beautiful people of Italy flirt, drink, and eventually start making out.

She was trying to get herself out there. Maybe she would meet someone. After all the only people she interacted with were the people at work. And all those people were married, except for Tristan, whom she had already had a relationship with.

Whenever she thought about work, her mind would always rest on him.

Did she still harbor feelings for him? Of course she did. Was she willing to openly admit it? No. The last time she did, she ended up hurt and she knew that she could not go through that again. She loved him once and all that did was hurt her.

So here she was: trying to meet new people. It was not really working out for her. She knew that it was probably her because she was not exactly putting herself out there. After about another twenty minutes, she decided to leave.

She walked the nine blocks back to her apartment relatively quickly. Although she was not expecting the surprise for when she arrived.

Everything on the outside of the apartment appeared normal. The only thing that was not normal was the person sitting on her couch. Her first question: Why is he here? Her second question: How did get into my apartment?

"What are you doing here Tristan?"

His tall body slid itself off the couch and made its way over to here, while it was giving an explanation, "I need to talk to you Rory."

"How did you get into my apartment?"

"I had a key."

She sarcastically shrugged her shoulders and responded, "Oh, of course."

"Rory it's not like that."

"What is it like then?" She put her purse on the kitchen counter; while she watched him continuing making it's way over to her.

"I had to see you Rory. I knew that you wouldn't let me in here to talk to you."

"You're right I wouldn't." Rory crossed her arms along her chest. Her defenses were starting to come up.

Tristan noticed this. The only way he had ever been able to convince her to do anything was when she was vulnerable. Sometimes her vulnerability made him feel guilty, but he quickly got over it because it meant he got to be with her. He did not mind taking advantages of her weaknesses. She very well took advantage of his, even if she didn't realize it.

"You aren't a notch in my bedpost Rory," he stated simply, referring to their earlier conversation.

She scoffed.

"You aren't."

"Really? I just don't get you Tristan. One minute you act like you can't even look at me and then there are the times like these, when you act like I'm all you need to breathe and you can't live without me. I don't get it."

"I love you."

"No, no." She looked away from him. "Don't say stuff like that Tristan."

"I can't say that when it's true?"

"No you can't! You don't deserve to say it."

"I've been thinking about us a lot lately. That night after the dinner was amazing. I've already said that. When I first woke up, I couldn't deal with what had just happened, so I pushed you away like I always have. I've been thinking about us a lot Rory."

Rory started walking away from him toward her bedroom. She could not look him. She was going to do something she was going to regret and she would not put herself in that position. His eyes did everything to her. She could feel herself giving in and she could not do it again. It happened to her already twice and she was not going to be tricking herself into it again. "Stop. Just stop."

"I can't. Don't you see me Rory? I'm asking for another chance."

"I've given you so many chances. There have been so many opportunities." This was not necessarily directed towards him. He heard it and understood it, but it was more for her benefit. She was trying to reinforce that he didn't deserve another chance. It was just wasn't worth the eventual hurt. It would last for a couple of months and then it would end, leaving her more broken than before.

He kept following her to the back of the apartment toward the bedroom. The brown hair and blue eyes, which were looking away from him, were enticing him to follow. "You know we are meant to be together."

"People that are suppose to be together don't hurt each other as much as we do."

She was coming up with excuses like she always did. She was trying so hard not to give in. Although, he could feel her slowly breaking. He almost felt the tears coming. She was falling apart in front of his eyes. As much as it was painful for him to watch, he knew it was necessary. After all the first time they kissed, she cried. It was almost necessary for her to cry. "Come on Rory!"

"No!" she snapped, facing him. The tears were falling down her eyes. It was the second time she cried over him in the past month. Why did he have to make her feel this way? She was hurting, yet he was doing exactly what she wanted him to do. He was telling her that he loved her. She had wanted to hear those words so badly. It hurt when he hadn't said them. And now he was saying them and it hurt more. There was this pain between them.

Tristan's hands held her face. They were inches away. His thumbs were wiping the tears away. "Shhh," he tried calming her, "Rory we have nothing to be afraid of anymore. It's just you and me."

"We have everything to be afraid of," she said through the tears. She was sobbing.

"No. It can be easy."

"It's never easy with us Tristan. Nothing will ever be easy."

His lips grazed over hers. As always, her vulnerable state gave in. He got what he wanted. He pressed his lips to hers and they began kissing. It was full of passion and need. He could taste her salty tears, but to him they tasted nothing except sweet. He won the victory and now he tasted his prize. He knew it and so did she.

Rory pulled away to take a much-needed breath and Tristan started kissing her neck. He had always been a good multi-tasker and now was different. He was unbuttoning her collared blue shirt, exposing her black bra against her white pale skin. Peeling her shirt off, he found her lips again.

This time he pulled away first. Breathless, he said, "Rory if we do this, I have to know something."

"What?"

"Are we going to be together after tonight?"

She looked into his eyes, "Why do you have ruin moments like this?" She started taking off his suit jacket, hoping her movements would distract his train of thought.

"I want to know that you and I are going to become an us. I'm asking you to be my girlfriend again Rory Gilmore. I want a serious relationship with you. Nothing short."

She let go of him. Her hand pushed her fallen hair out of her face. She was starting to feel the blood rushing to her face.

He was saying all the things she wanted him to say weeks ago. And yet she was contemplating rejecting him. It would not be implausible. After all look at everything he had put her through. It would be fully understandable. Her heart and her head were telling her two different things. Her heart was saying, "say yes!" and her head was saying, "don't get hurt again."

Throughout most of her life, Rory had always gone with her head. It was the always the logical thing to do. However when it came to Tristan reason went out the window. And like always it did.

"I want to be with you," she said quietly.

"What?" The words she could have said would either bring him together or break his heart.

She turned around and faced him, "I want to be with you. However, Tristan, you can't break my heart again. Last time, well last time was very hard for me. I never really have gotten over it."

"Are you saying you still love me?"

A side of her mouth went up. She had learned his smirk. "Maybe."

"Come on Rory, say it."

"How about I show you?" She walked the five feet between them and kissed him with all the ferocity she could muster. "Now, do you have answer?"

"Well only have of it. I want to hear you say it."

She kissed him softly and against his lips she said, "I love you."

Tristan smiled instantly and this time it was not a smirk. "I love you too." After a moment he said, "Now that we have that established, let's make the way to the bedroom." He grabbed her hand and started leading her toward the direction.

Her feet did not move though. "Wait, Tristan."

"What?"

"What are we going to tell everyone at the embassy?"

Damn, that was something he did not want her to ask. "We'll figure it out later come on," he tried to brush it off.

Calmly she replied, "No we are going to figure this out now."

"Okay, well I'm the boss so just say we are dating"

"But then everyone will think that I'm sleeping with you just to get ahead or something. You know how the world works."

"Rory, no would ever think that about you."

"Are you sure? Because I'm sure that's what Monica Lewinsky thought too."

"You are not Monica Lewinsky."

"Still, not everyone knows the situation between you and I."

He sighed. Tristan knew this was true. People would start talking and he did not want her to bear the brunt of it. 'Okay well we can keep it a secret for a little while."

"I'm stationed here for two years and it's only been what, three months?"

"Yeah…"

Rory cut him off as his voice trailed, "Exactly."

"I can't be without you Rory. I want a relationship with you."

"I know, but it's unrealistic right now."

"Well we can hide it for a little while. Come on Rory," he pleaded.

She took a deep breath, "Fine, but if it doesn't work…"

"It will work," he insisted.

Trying to soothe her fears, he moved in closer to her and kissed her. It was soft and for a moment allowed her to be safe and she became comfortable.


	8. In The Waiting Line

**Chapter 8 – In The Waiting Line**

At the moment Rory woke up the following morning, everything felt right. It had not felt that way in awhile. Actually come to think of it, a long while. His arms were wrapped around and her and she felt warm. There was almost this complete feeling within his arms. If she had her way she would spend the rest of eternity there. The rest of the world just fell away and it was just Rory and Tristan.

Tristan felt her wake up. He could feel her eyelashes fluttering against his chest and it gave him a sense of reality. He didn't know if it was real. He wanted it to be, but he wasn't sure, until he felt those eyelashes against his skin. It was his first moment of satisfaction. He felt her nuzzle into him deeper, furthering his realization of her actually being next to him.

He placed a small kiss on her forehead.

Rory felt the display of affection and quickly stated, "You're awake."

"And so are you."

"Yep," her eyes focused on his chiseled, bare chest.

They both laid there in silence. They were both consumed with the thoughts of what to do next. Neither of them knew what to say to one another.

The silence was killing Tristan, so he asked, "What do you want to do for breakfast?"

"Normally I don't eat breakfast. It's usually just a shot of coffee and then out the door I go. I always get up late."

"Oh, well we can go to one of the local pastry shops."

"That sounds fine."

"Good."

Uncontrollably Rory started laughing. It started out as a giggle, but then it turned into a real laugh.

Tristan, unaware of exactly why she was laughing, turned to her and asked, "What's so funny?" with a smirk on his face.

"It's…It's just that I never thought this would be so awkward. We don't even know what to do when we are waking up and getting out of bed," she continued laughing.

He smirked and let out a small laugh. Then his face turned serious. Rory stopped for a second when she looked at his serious face. "What?"

Seriously he said, "We could always continue what we started and finished last night."

"So you don't want to go to the pastry shop?"

'Now that this new opportunity has presented itself, I don't see why we should."

Nodding her head in agreement, Rory responded, "I fully agree."

Before she even had a chance to fully respond, Tristan had already started. His mouth quickly descended on hers. And hungrily, Rory instantly responded. There was passion, something she had not experienced in a long time.

Tristan wanted every inch of her and nothing less. And she was more than willing to give it. Even though she knew that the favor would not always be returned. He was good to her, when it was good. Although she never exactly why he was a tormented soul. He never let her in that far. She had barely scratched the surface when it came to Tristan Dugrey.

Those years back at Chilton had fully demonstrated why she became infatuated with the enigma of Tristan. He would stand by her locker, waiting to torment her and in the early days he would do it with a girl attached at his hip. She would wonder why he would waste his time conversing with her and staking out her locker. What was she to him? Another conquest? That was what she thought for a long time and then he confessed her feelings for her and as most would say, the rest was history.

It was not like they had not keep tabs on each other. Whenever Tristan was in Hartford, he would make sure he heard the latest from one of his many connections. The method proved to be successful. He knew all about Rory's interactions with Jess and Logan.

He kind of expected a Jess Mariano to attract Rory. From what he heard, he was a bad boy with a love of books. Rory needed to find a rebellion of sorts and that's what Jess was. He was her escape from everything. He figured she would be heartbroken after that relationship ended Rory would go into a hibernation of sorts. And she did. He knew her too well.

She did not date again until her second year at Yale. This was the one Tristan had worried about. He knew all about Logan Huntzberger. Actually he knew Logan Huntzberger. He knew of all his conquests and he was much like Tristan and that's what scared him. Rory would fall for the same tricks and be hurt in the same way.

Though that did not happen. Tristan had waited and waited for it to happen, but it didn't. They stayed together for a long time. And from Tristan had heard Logan had stayed fully and completely faithful to Rory. Something Tristan hadn't.

Eventually though they broke up. He wanted Rory to be happy. Really, he did. He just did not want her to be happy with someone other than him. It sounded selfish and he knew it, but for him that was the only way his life would ever work the way he wanted it to.

Similarly Rory knew a little bit about Tristan. She didn't seek out information as much as Tristan, but she would hear the whisperings at the parties she would attend with her grandmother. "The Dugrey boy is doing quite well at Duke." "It's a shame what happened to the Dugreys. I wonder how the children are handling it."

No one in Hartford was ignorant of the Dugreys' tragic demise. It had been on the news. One of the most famous and infamous families had lost their crowned prince and princess. Rory, of course, heard all the information from her grandmother. Rory had even attended the funeral. Although, she was sure not to be noticed by Tristan. He did not even know she was there, until the day afterward when he saw the guest book.

Rory and Tristan spent the rest of Saturday and Sunday together and believe it or not, they did actually leave the bedroom. Instead of spending Sunday night together, Tristan opted to sleep at his own apartment. He knew it might look a little suspicious if they showed up at the embassy together.

They even continued on their normal routine, trying to act as normal as possible. Of course they were friendlier to each other and it did not go on unnoticed by the rest of the staff.

"You and the Ambassador seem to be getting along better than before," Robert Young commented to Rory as she handed him some paper work.

"Yeah we are." Rory smiled politely, but couldn't help and try to suppress the sudden relationship her and Tristan had formed.

The next thing Robert said, Rory wasn't sure if she heard. "The sexual tension between the two of you seems to have disappeared."

She stared at him, "What?"

"The sexual tension's gone," he stated plainly.

She quickly turned away from him, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Sure you don't," he joked.

"Robert you must be mistaken, there is nothing between the Ambassador and I. We are simply coworkers."

"I never said anything to the contrary."

"But you just said there was sexual tension between us."

"I did, but I never said anything about there being anything more than a work relationship between you two."

Rory didn't say anything. She didn't want him thinking what she thought he was thinking.

"Ms. Gilmore, I assure you I was not alluding to anything." Rory wanted to believe him, but she could not look past that searing smirk on his face. "After all, I would not want you and the Ambassador to be breaking any of the office rules."

And with that Robert Young walked away. His tone was playful, but Rory could not help but feel that there was a warning in his words. For a moment she sat down at her desk. She tried to accomplish something, but with Robert's words in her mind she just couldn't.

Finally after five antagonizing minutes, Rory resolved to voice her concerns to Tristan.

Tristan heard a knock at his office door and said, "Come in."

Rory hesitantly walked in. She knew he was most likely busy working on some government treaty or something. "Tristan?"

"Oh Rory," his voice immediately perked up. He had has glasses on and before he stood up to greet her, he gingerly took them off his face. He walked over to her before she had a chance to reach him.

He placed his lips softly on hers. "Finally we have some time alone." He started kissing her and she got lost in the moment. His lips on hers were creating an emotion she did not want to leave, but she pulled away.

"Tristan I didn't come in here to do this."

"Then what is it? Do you need something?" he asked eagerly. His first thoughts were hers. He was considerate.

"No, nothing like that. Umm, Robert told me that he noticed something between us."

"Oh," his voice dropped. "What did he say?"

"He said that there was no more sexual tension between us."

Instead of concern filling his voice, Rory heard laughter. "Tristan this is not funny!"

"But it is. We completely uninhibited ourselves. No more awkwardness, isn't this what you wanted?" he asked referring to her earlier concerns of their working relationship.

"Well yeah, but I don't want other people noticing. Tristan, the State Department has rules. No one is allowed to date each other, especially superiors and lower-level employees."

He ran his hand through his hair, He had a feeling this was going to come up sooner or later and frankly he was happier it was now rather than later, though he wished the subject had not come up at all.

"Rory that's why no one can find out about us."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean our liaisons and dates will have to be held in secure places."

"You mean my boyfriend and I are going to be living our love life like fugitives?"

"Essentially yes, but it will be fine."

"Tristan it's not going to be fine. I want all of you, not just you in private. You in private is much better and everything, but still. I want to be able to walk around with you and hold hands and kiss you whenever I want and not have to worry about people from the embassy seeing us. I can't just do that. I want all of you, at least as much as I can get." She was rambling. She knew it, but she was never one of those people with few words. She wanted him to know what was going on in her mind and this was how that was going to be possible.

He sighed. There wasn't anything he could. He could convince her to live a lie, but he knew Rory Gilmore was not about to do that. "Rory, I want you like that too, but it is just not possible. We both have careers we want to maintain. I would be satisfied with you in any way I can. But if it's not enough for you… I don't know what to say."

It was true. He didn't know what to say. He didn't want to lie to her and tell her that it would all be right and they wouldn't get caught. Because, well, there was the very good chance that they would. It also didn't help that at the Prime Minister's dinner he had to go and tell everyone she was married to him. They didn't exactly know that she was his personal assistant, but still he felt bad about it. He had the habit of doing things he knew he shouldn't do, but he did them anyways. It went back since he was a child.

Thoughts in Rory's head were swirling around. She couldn't get any control of them. Their relationship had been going on for a mere week and here they were almost at the point when they were going to have to end it. She didn't want to. She really didn't want to. It was going great. He was treating her like a princess and he was being attentive. Once in a while he would go off into Tristan world, but she knew she did the same exact thing.

"Tristan why does our relationship always have to be so complicated? First it was Chilton and now it's this. We just don't get a break."

"I know." He placed his hands on her shoulders attempting to comfort her. "I understand if you're not up to living like we will have too."

"I don't want to, but if it's the only way I can be with you, then I guess we have to."

"Really? You're willing to hid our relationship?"

"Yeah…after all it will only be for a year and half right?"

"Yeah, only a year and a half," he repeated. In theory it didn't sound so long, but once he said it aloud it sounded like an eternity. "I'll ask for relocation."

"What?" she asked.

He looked at her, seriously. "I'll ask for a transfer. Maybe the State Department can move me to France or something. We'll still be close and you can keep your job."

"No, I can't let you do that."

"Why not? Rory I've been waiting for this opportunity to be with you and here it is, and believe me I'm willing to risk my job for it. After all it is just a job."

"No, I can't let you do that," she repeated. "Tristan this is what you've been waiting for in your life. You never knew what you wanted to do before and now this is your chance to become something and I'm not letting you give up what made you become the man you are today. After all that is what I am attracted to."

"Well how else are we going to be together? You can't give up your job and I'm not letting you either."

He saw her eyes drop to the ground. She was giving into his original idea. If they were quiet about their relationship, then no one would find out. "We're just going to have to keep our relationship a secret."

"Are you sure you're okay with that?"

"I'm not okay with it, but I'm going to have to be right? As long I get some part of you I'll be happy."

He took her small hands in his. "And Rory we can make the most of it. I will love you to the best I can." Tristan wrapped his arms around her and fortunately he did not hear the thoughts in Rory's mind.

A/N: The chapter title is the song "In the Waiting Line" by Zero 7.


	9. Dancing Nancies

**Chapter 9 – Dancing Nancies**

If someone had told Rory Gilmore that in a matter of mere months, she would be laying beside Tristan Dugrey in his apartment, in Rome, she would have laughed. Although right now, that very action was occurring.

The last three months had been a whirlwind for Rory. Her and Tristan's relationship was becoming serious, really serious. She knew it was going to happen that way, but she wasn't ready for what was happening. Her soul wasn't just hers anymore. It was his too. All her walls had come down and she was herself, naked in front of him.

And different from last time, he was himself. He did not have the same barriers he usually held. She wondered if it was attributed to his parents no longer being around. After all, they were the ones who had him living up to expectations that just weren't him. Duty no longer dictated how he should act.

The only thing that dictated them was work. Work had kept them from being out in the open and the most trying obstacle. She hated not being able to kiss him when she saw him in the morning and she hated their mid-afternoon romps in his office. But it was the one thing Tristan had requested of her and like always she gave in, even if it did feel wrong. She did it and she did it for him and that was almost enough.

"Rory, are you awake?" Tristan leaned over and started rubbing her upper arm.

"Yeah."

"What are you thinking about?"

Honestly she answered, "Us." She rolled onto her back, causing her to almost be underneath him,

"Really?" he asked with a smirk.

She smiled, "Uh huh." He still had the smirk that made her go weak and forget the bad in their relationship.

"What exactly were you thinking about?"

Ambiguously she answered, "Everything."

Tristan leaned down and kissed her. It was soft, not like his usual kisses. "I love you," he said gently.

"I love you too."

"So what are you up to today?" It was Saturday and one of the few days they could spend together.

"I was going to work on some of the trade agreements and start the monthly report to State, why?"

With Rory, work always seemed to be on her mind. "Well I was thinking we could spend the day together."

"In bed?" she raised her eyebrows, in obvious disdain. She was tired of spending the majority of their time inside. She just wanted to get out.

He sighed. "Am I really that bad?" he joked

"Yes," she waited for his reaction, but he just looked at her with a straight face. There was no way he would believe that as the truth. Perhaps his best piece of evidence was the way she had screamed his name the night before. "Okay, you're not bad. I just want to go out and do something. Like go to Piazza Navona and look at all the little stands. I don't know. I just don't want to be here all day. All night, but not all day."

"Fine. Let's go out. We can get some lunch. Then look at some of the sights and go to dinner. Just the two of us."

"Really?"

"Yeah. We can have some fun."

She didn't want to bring up the usual protest of seeing people that might know them. For today, she wanted to act like she was normal. They were normal. "Okay, I'm going to take a shower and then get dressed."

"Can I help you?"

"What getting dressed? No thanks, I think I can do that on my own."

His eyes narrowed, "You know what I mean."

Instead of responding, Rory turned her head and tried to get out from underneath the covers. The only problem was that Tristan had the sheet pinned around her, so she couldn't move.

"Tristan, please."

"You didn't answer my question."

Smiling Rory turned her head. "When have you ever needed an answer?"

Surprised at her words, Tristan's hold on her loosened and she managed to get away from him. Although after a quick second he regained his thoughts and followed her into the bathroom.

About an hour and half later, Rory and Tristan were ready to take on Rome. Dressed in jeans and a button-down shirt, Rory was at ease. She disliked wearing suits and fancy clothes and relished in weekend wear. And nothing was better than being in weekend wear with Tristan.

They stopped at a paninoteca and picked up sandwiches that they could eat while they walked around.

To any outsider, the couple looked extremely happy. And both Rory and Tristan were. Today they didn't have to keep up the pretenses of their office relationship. They were able to be real with one another. And they could even show a certain amount of affection for each other. Tristan had his arm slung over Rory's shoulder and Rory had her arms wrapped around his body. They looked in love and they were.

Rory could not imagine herself with anyone else. Tristan had this way of making her feel complete. He could make everything go away around them. The world became their playground and they could be with each other, unadulterated. In essence they could be themselves, fourteen years ago. It was the way they would walk around Stars' Hollow, Chilton, and Hartford. And those times were when Rory could fully say she was happy.

And here she was. Rory was in perhaps the most romantic place in the entire world with the man she had loved since she was sixteen. She should be happy right? She should feel like everything was falling into place. She could push the negative thoughts to the back of her mind, but for some reason they always seemed to find their way to the front.

Her mind had never been clear when dealing with Tristan. Sometimes it was the way he would infuriate her and other times it would be the way he made her feel. She was always clouded and perhaps that was her dilemma. There just wasn't that normal, clear approach with Tristan that Rory usually had when it came to anything else in her life. Normally she would approach something calmly and rationally, but it just never seemed to work with Tristan. Nothing ever seemed to work with Tristan. He was simply an anomaly. Was that what was endearing about him? That he wasn't like anyone she had ever known?

He had made her feel things she didn't even think were possible and now here she was, on the edge of a cliff, teetering over whether or not to fall. Part of her could still hold back. Technically speaking the whole world did not know about them. In order to keep up appearances, she had told nobody, including Paris, Lane and even her mother. She felt guilty about it. Normally she told those three people everything, but she couldn't this time. It would mean that she would have to let other people in on the little world she had created for Tristan and herself.

For three months it had been just them and no one else. No one to question what their relationship was or whether or not it was wrong. Just three months of themselves and Rory relished it. By the time her duty was over here, she could tell everyone and she could deal with all the consequences that would befall them. For now, she just wanted his arms around her.

She looked up at him. She could barely see his eyes through the dark sunglasses, but she knew that he was looking down at her. "I love you."

Tristan smiled. "I love you too," he said and kissed her on the forehead. "So where do you want to go next? The Trevi Fountain, the Coliseum, or the Spanish Steps?"

"Umm, the Trevi Fountain. I haven't been there yet."

"You haven't been there yet!" he exclaimed. "You mean you've been living in Rome for six months and you have not experienced the Trevi Fountain."

"Nope."

"Well that has to be our first stop. It's actually only a few streets away. Then we can go to the Pantheon, that's not very far from there."

"I haven't been there either."

"Now Rory, that is just a crime. How can you be working for the ambassador and not see the sights of the country you are staying in?"

"Well you see, my boss, the ambassador has me working insane hours, so there's my first problem. And secondly, my boyfriend, wants to see me all the time, so how am I suppose to see all the sights and satisfy everyone at the same time?"

He put a finger to his chin in mock thought, "Hmm, I see your dilemma. Maybe I'll just have to speak to these two intelligent, good looking men."

"Would you do that for me?"

"Certamente," he responded, in his best Italian accent.

In mere minutes they arrived at the Trevi Fountain. Tristan had placed one Euro in her hand.

"So now that you have the proper prop, you need to toss it in to the Fountain," he explained.

"Isn't there some myth about tossing a coin into the Trevi Fountain?"

"As a matter of fact there is. If you toss in a coin, the next time you return to Rome you'll come back with your true love."

"Well what if I'm already here with my true love?"

He wrapped his arms around her, "Then the second time is just for security purposes." He kissed her lightly, and then let her go.

"Come on. Throw the Euro over your shoulder." He stepped back.

"Wait, Tristan!" She reached into her purse and went up three steps to him. "Here take a picture."

"Do you always keep a camera in your purse?"

"Only for moments like this."

She went back down the steps and turned around, so she was facing him. "Ready?"

"Yep." She closed her eyes and tossed the coin into the Trevi Fountain, making a wish, even if it wasn't the proper protocol.

She went back up the steps to meet Tristan. "I got the picture."

"Good." He handed her back the camera and she placed it in her purse.

"Let's go to the Pantheon." He grabbed her hand and led her to another Roman structure.

After five hours of walking around, eating some gelato, and taking loads of pictures, Tristan and Rory decided to take some dinner and grab some dinner at a small, intimate trattoria.

"How did you find this place?"

He smirked, "Despite what you may think, I don't like to spend all of my time in fancy, upscale restaurants." Rory gave him a disbelieving look. "Really. I only go to those restaurants if I need to entertain someone. If I'm by myself, I prefer to go to smaller places like this."

"Okay I believe you."

Before the couple could say anymore to each other, a woman in about her late 50's approached them.

"Buona sera, signor e signora. Benvenuto alla Trattoria di Nonna. Sono nonna. Ecco i suoi menu. Vogliano le beve?" Her Italian accent was thick, but before Rory could manage to reply, Tristan took over.

"Si. Una bottiglia di vino rosso e' meglio, per me e la signora. Grazie signora." The older woman smiled in delight and walked off to get the best red wine, for the charming couple in the back booth.

He was so flawless and Rory couldn't help but grin at his way to charm any woman.

"What?" He noticed the smile that broke out on her face.

"I still can't believe how you are able to handle every single woman that crosses your path."

"What can I say? It's a gift. And it got me you, so I am taking what I can get."

"And that I must say, I am very, very happy about."

"So do you see anything you like?" he referred to the menu.

"The Parmesan chicken looks good, but oh there is also this amazing looking risotto thing, and the pasta primavera. Oh my god there's just too much stuff that looks so good. I don't know what to get."

Rory sounded exasperated by all the choices ahead. So Tristan decided to make it a little easier on her. "Well let's order everything."

"Everything?"

"Well, everything you want to try. Why not? We have all the time in the world. Let's make the most of it."

"Okay. But as long as I can try ay dessert I want."

"Anything the lady wants," he smiled.

She smiled at him back.

"What?"

"I like you like this."

"Like what?"

"Like yourself," she replied simply.

Before Tristan had a chance of saying anything else, the woman came back and poured the wine for the two of them and took their orders. She was a little surprised at how much they ordered, but couldn't help but smile at the two of them. They genuinely seemed happy and that wasn't something she normally saw.

Rory's comment irked Tristan. She always said things that left him questioning things. "Earlier when you said I am acting like myself, what did you mean?"

"You're happy, playful, and I don't know. I guess you're not acting like your usual pretentious self." She laughed.

"You think I'm pretentious?"

She twisted her wine glass in her fingers. She was trying to figure out a way to say what she wanted in the best way possible. "When we were younger, you always had this air about you like you better than everyone. Maybe it was just your upbringing, but you acted like you were the king."

Tristan leaned back in his chair. "Okay maybe I was pretentious, but you Rory, well you had your own issues."

Rory crossed her arms. "Really? Like what?"

Intrigued with the way this conversation was going, Tristan leaned forward. "You were scared. You wanted nothing to do with anything that might test the limits."

"I dated you. Now that was definitely testing the limits."

"Yes, but it took you a little over a year to finally say yes. And you only said yes when you were sure that I liked you and you finally had figured out you liked me."

Rory's mouth slowly broke into a smile.

He took a sip of his wine and said, "See you know exactly what I am talking about."

"I do."

"Good. I always knew you would see it my way."

"Did you?"

"Of course," he replied oh so sure of himself.

"So I have a question for you Mr. Ambassador."

"Shoot."

Rory leaned forward, in preparation for her question. "How did you exactly become an ambassador? I know State recommended you and stuff, but I mean I've been working here for six years and except for this assignment, I've basically been a paper pusher and dealing with visas."

"At Duke I majored in political science and government and I was also minoring in Arabic and Italian. I already knew Spanish and French. In my junior year, there was a representative from State and he was recruiting people for one of their summer programs. My Arabic professor ended up introducing me to the person and I got offered a place in the program. I worked at State that summer in D.C. Then after I graduated, they offered me a permanent job. And from there, it just grew. I ended up becoming the liaison to the Italian embassy and when the Italian Ambassador position opened up. And you know the rest."

"Wow."

"Yeah it was kind of fast. I didn't really expect it to take off so quickly. What about you? Weren't you destined to be the foreign correspondent for the New York Times or something?"

"You still remember that?"

He took her hand in his. "Of course I do."

"Yeah. Well I planned on it. I just changed my mind. I realized that I wanted to help people more. And being the Foreign Service seemed like the logical choice. I would be able to help people directly. So I changed my major to international relations and for graduate school I went to Georgetown."

"Georgetown? That's impressive."

"Yeah it's hard to get into, but I managed it. After that, I passed my Foreign Service test and the rest is paperwork pretty much." Rory seemed to evade the details, but Tristan didn't let her get away with it.

He held his hand up. "Wait a second, there. I want to hear about it. I want to know where you were stationed and everything."

"I'll just bore you."

"No I want to know," Tristan insisted. "This is my first assignment living abroad. I want to know what it was like to actually be a Foreign Service officer."

Rory sighed. She knew he would stop at nothing to get the information he wanted. Taking a deep breath, she started, "I joined State six and half years ago. The first assignment I had was Rwanda."

"Rwanda? They sent you to one of the least developed parts of Africa as your first job?" he asked. He had only heard of people who had received positions in some of the most remote parts of the world. He was almost amazed at Rory surviving in such conditions, but he knew if she wanted something bad enough she would go to any lengths to accomplish her goal.

Rory twisted the stem of her wine glass. "Yeah. That was probably my favorite though. I did do a lot of bureaucratic stuff, but in my spare time I was able to volunteer and help with HIV prevention and teach children. Then I got sent to Columbia. I liked Columbia. It was a little bit more developed. And for the last two years, I was in Thailand." She said the last part kind of quickly, as if she didn't want to dwell on it.

"Thailand? You said you were there for your last assignment? Was that when the tsunami was?"

Rory nodded lightly and rubbed the back of her head.

Tristan's face became concerned. He now understood why she didn't want to talk about it. "You were there weren't you?"

"Yeah."

"Did something happen?"

Something possessed Rory to say something she hadn't said before. "Yeah, something did."

A/N: The chapter title is "Dancing Nancies" by Dave Matthews Band 


	10. Just Don't Think I'll Ever Get Over You

Her guard had come down. She had finally admitted that something had happened to her while she was in Thailand. Back in Star's Hollow, no one knew. She couldn't bring herself to tell her mother, let alone Lane. But she was about to tell Tristan.

He always did have this un-canning ability to make her confront things. And he was doing it again. She herself hadn't confronted it. But she was. And she had the feeling that this might make it all the better.

Rory took a deep breath. "I want you to know something first. Before Thailand, our relationship was the hardest thing I have ever gone through. And in all honesty, I never did get over us. Nothing could ever has been or ever will be better than us. And in Thailand, I lost that. I lost the memory of us."

"What do you mean by that?"

"I'm trying to get there." She was having a hard time formulating exactly how to say what she wanted to say. She had never said it allowed before. "I was standing on the balcony of my apartment. And there was this rumbling. I never experienced an earthquake before and I didn't know what it was. And I guess that was it. Then a couple of minutes later, all this water was coming. It wasn't like the normal waves that crashed on the beach below. This wave was huge and before I knew it the water had come onto my balcony.

"My first instinct was to go inside. But instead I kind of just stood there. It was stupid, but I just was standing there. Then another wave came and this one was more powerful and I grabbed the hand railing. The water ended up coming onto the balcony this time and covered me. I was soaking wet. Then another wave came and after that I only remember all this water surrounding me. "

Rory stopped. And Tristan looked at her. He now realized why State had given her an assignment in Rome. It was a way for them to make up for the disastrous experience she had in Thailand.

Nonna came back and placed five plates in food in front of them and simply said "Buon Apetito." Even the elderly woman could tell that the playful mood between the couple had dissipated and now there was serious conversation going on. The young woman with the sparkling blue eyes appeared to be hiding tears. The man was struggling with what the woman was saying. But he almost seemed fearless in his constant gaze.

With the food in front of them, Rory and Tristan didn't make a move to eat it. They both sat in silence for a moment.

Rory knew Tristan wasn't going to break it, so she did. "Wow, this food looks really good."

"Yeah," Tristan unenthusiastically concurred. "Rory what happened afterward?"

"I don't know. I woke up in San Francisco three weeks later. The doctors had tole I was in some sort of coma. I guess I was in some hospital right outside of the city I was staying in. State didn't know where I was, but one of the locals figured out I was American and notified the embassy. And they brought me back to the states. I had broken a couple of ribs and had sustained some head injuries. It was bad; I didn't know who I was for the first couple of days.

"My mom flew out from Hartford and helped me regain my memory. I didn't even recognize who she was. I think that was the worst part. Our relationship was and is perhaps the most important one in my life and I couldn't remember it. My own mother."

Tristan rubbed her hand. "Were you able to get most of your memory back?"

"Yeah. I mean there are some spots that are blurry, but I remember most of my life."

He wanted to ask if she remembered them. She had to. But he wondered if she remembered the little things. The things that made them, them.

His look on his face, made it easier for her to tell him the next part. "I didn't remember you for a long time. It took me about a month. I knew everything else, about Dean, Jess and Logan, but there was something missing. And it was the largest part. I couldn't figure it out. Then in my room, back at Star's Hollow, I stumbled on my Tristan box. I think I spent two days in my room, regaining it all back. My mom got scared about that part. I asked her why she never told me. She said it was because you had hurt me the most, even if I didn't know it. Because you did hurt me the most."

He cut her off, "Rory…"

"No," she put her hand up. "Let me finish. It wasn't just the whole idea that I could have possibly died. I mean that was scary and all, and now I doubt I'll ever be able to go near a large body of water, but that wasn't the biggest thing. It was the idea that I could have lost everything I knew about us.

"The thing about you was that emotionally I was closed up when it came to you. I never talked to anyone about you and that's why you were the hardest to remember. All I had were my memories and not anyone else's. Now, I have all of it. And at one point, I though I would have been happier without all the memories and heartache, but I'm realizing that's what made it so important. Those six months we were together were by far the part in my life that I was able to grow up the most in. From then till now, emotionally I had not gone through any change. Fourteen years is a long time not to grow at all emotionally, but I hadn't. In all of my relationships after you, the farthest I got was the point you and I were at, when we ended. I could never bring myself to go that one step further. Being again with you now, I know I am able to go that one step more."

Rory took a deep breath, "I love you Tristan. I really mean that and now nothing can come between us."

"I love you too. Rory I want to spend the rest of my life with you. I have to spend the rest of my life with you. You are the most important person in the world to me, do you know that?"

She lifted her hand and touched the side of his face. Easily he leaned into her touch. "Of course I do. And we will spend the rest of our lives together. Of that I am sure, even if it's the only thing."

A commitment was made. Did wedding bells ring in the future for the two of them? Or was it just the promise that they would always be there for one another? It did not matter. The only thing that gave them a care was each other.

Now they were able to eat their dinner in a peace that neither had known before.

Typing up the monthly report to the State Department, Rory's office telephone rang.

"Pronto," she greeted.

"Umm, Hello. Is this Rory Gilmore?" a voice Rory didn't recognize asked.

"Yes. Sorry about the greeting. I work in Italy."

"Oh. No problem. Are you related to a Lorelai Gilmore?" the woman asked.

"Yes. She's my mother."

"I'm Dr. Hunt at Hartford Medical Center. Your mother and father, Luke Danes, were involved in an accident."

An immense feeling of dread passed through Rory's body. "Oh my god, are they okay?" Rory asked impatiently.

"They are both currently in intensive care, however there are operations that are needed on both them. I need a family authorization."

"Well I need to get to Hartford. I can try and be there by tomorrow. Luke is just my step dad though."

"That will be enough. I will have the paperwork ready for when you arrive. I'm sorry about what happened. Goodbye."

Rory simply hung the phone up. She ran her hand across her face, attempting to hold in the tears. Although, she could not help it. They started to fall anyway. A sob rocked her body. Her mother, the most important person in her life, and Luke, the closest thing she had known to a father, were lying in some hospital bed, holding on to their lives.

Unbeknownst to Rory, her cries were loud enough for the people occupying the embassy to hear.

And in the Ambassador's office, the sobs were loud enough too. Immediately he thought of Rory and dropped his pen on the papers he was signing.

He opened his door quick enough so he got to Rory before everyone else.

"Rory? What happened?" he asked impatiently, places his hands on both sides of her face, attempting to wipe the tears away. He got down on his knees, so he could see her.

"Mom and Luke," she said.

"Come on let's go into my office."

"I can't. I have to get to the airport and get back to Hartford." She started to stand.

"Rory you need to calm down first okay. We can take the embassy's plane and get you there are soon as possible."

Her eyes pleaded with him, "No Tristan, I have to go right now. I don't have time to rationalize and think about this. I just need to go."

"Rory, listen to me. We need to go into my office because I need to call for my sister's jet which is in London right now and you need to take this all in for a couple of minutes okay?"

After a moment of hesitation, Tristan took her hand and led her into his office. He saw Robert from across the hallway and once Rory was safely inside his office, he told Robert about what was going on and reassured him that Rory was going to be all right. Even if Tristan, himself, didn't think so.

After closing the door to his office, he took a deep breath and turned himself around to face Rory. She was standing up with her hands attempting to wipe the tears away, but it wasn't doing much good because the tears kept coming. All Tristan could think to do was walk over to her and wrap his arms around her. He felt the tears through his dress shirt.

At that moment, Rory Gilmore had never seemed so small to him. She seemed so frightened and scared, that it scared him. He had never seen her so helpless.

"It's going to be okay Rory. I promise."

"I don't know though. The doctor said it was bad. They're both in comas right now. Tristan, I don't know what to do."

"I'll see if I can come with to Hartford and we can figure out the best way for the doctors to treat Lorelai and Luke. I'll do everything in my power to make sure they'll be fine."

"I know. They need me to sign papers for authorization or something. Tristan it's really serious. There was an accident or something. I wasn't even there." She looked up at him. Her eyes were red, but to Tristan she still looked beautiful.

"It'll be fine. We can try and get out of here as soon as possible, all right?"

"We?" she asked.

"Yes 'we', why?"

"You're going to come to Hartford with me?"

"Of course."

"What about people not knowing about us? Don't you think it will be kind of obvious that something is going on if you come with me?" Give it to Rory to bring up their secret relationship in a time when she was the most distraught, Tristan had ever seen her.

He took a deep breath. "I don't care about that. It doesn't matter. And I can just say I'm visiting family. It will be fine." He ran his hand along her hair to reassure her.

"Okay." Rory further nudged her head into Tristan's shoulder, tears still pouring from her eyes. Never had she been so happy that Tristan was there when she needed him. It was good to have him there. And she hoped that he always would be.


	11. Morning Light

**Chapter 11-Morning Light**

The plane arrived in Rome a couple of hours later. Tristan felt lucky that his sister was in London for the week, otherwise they might have had to fly commercial and he knew Rory wouldn't be able to rest.

Fortunately Rory had fallen asleep. Her head was on his lap and her brown hair gently laid across his legs. Tristan himself was tired, but he couldn't bring himself to close his eyes. Plus there was the mountain of paper work seated next to him calling his name. But he didn't want to do it. He was attempting to think about him Rory.

For a while, he thought he could last seeing her privately, outside of the office, on weekends, and nights. He was starting to realize that this wasn't enough. He didn't want to have to worry about being seen with her.

Additionally there was the velvet box that had been residing in his left breast pocket.

For the past three weeks he had been carrying it around with him. For the life of him, he didn't know what had possessed him to buy it.

He had been in New York City for the weekend, attending to legal matters of Dugrey Enterprises. His sister had made a deal to buy a cell phone service company and being the majority stockholder, she needed his signature to finalize the deal.

Kylie Dugrey amazed him beyond belief. She had taken the company to heights no one thought possible. Originally there were mumblings that she wouldn't do the job well and the business world was shocked by Tristan's decision to hand the multi-billion dollar company to his sister. But his sister had done well. And he was proud of her, so when she needed him to do one thing, he immediately got on a plane to do his part.

The brother and sister relationship had definitely grown since their parents' deaths. They talked to each other about once a week on the phone and pretty much told each other everything. Although, before the trip to New York, Tristan had yet to tell Kylie about his and Rory's relationship. He had even neglected telling her that Rory was in Rome let alone working for him. But he had cracked and told her.

Kylie was making dinner for both of them when he told her. "Kylie?"

"Yeah?" She threw some onions into the pan.

"I'm dating Rory Gilmore," he stated.

"What?" She turned around to face him.

Tristan sighed. "I should have told you a long time ago, but she's my executive assistant at the Embassy."

"What?" she repeated. Most of the time his sister was the smartest woman he knew, but other times she could be dumbest.

"Rory is my executive assistant," he enunciated every syllable.

"And you're dating her."

"Yes for three months."

"And she's been your executive assistant for six months?" she calculated how long Tristan had been the ambassador to Italy.

"About that," he estimated.

"So you guys are dating now?"

"Yes," Tristan asserted.

Kylie didn't say anything for a moment. She seemed to be trying to wrap her mind around this interesting development in Tristan's life. "I'm still confused," she said.

"I – am – dating – Rory – Gilmore."

"I get that part, but why would she ever want to be with you again? Frankly Tristan last time, you treated her like shit and if I were her, I would never take you back, so…"

"Hey!"

"Well I wouldn't, so exactly how did this happen? And please leave out the gross details that a sister should never hear," she gave Tristan a serious look.

Tristan laughed a little at his sister's attempt to curve the exact details of his and Rory's relationship. "A week into being the Ambassador, State finally assigned me an assistant. I didn't know it would be Rory, hell, I didn't even know she worked for State. So she shoes up at my office. I found out a half an hour before she got there that it would be her. Although she had no idea I was the ambassador. She was surprised to say the least.

"And in the beginning it was awkward. It worked; we didn't really have any problems. That is until I made her attend the Prime Minister's ball."

"Let me guess. You forced her to wear some designer gown and play some part, right?"

His sister had nailed it right on the dot. "Kind of."

"And let me guess again. You guys kissed or slept together right?"

"How do you know that?"

"Let's just say I know my brother and I know how you are with women, especially Rory Gilmore."

"Kylie there's just something about her. I can't help myself when it comes to her. I tried for fourteen years to forget her and I just couldn't. And there she was right in front of me and I gave myself to my own devices. But just like the first time, I pushed her away again. I woke up the next morning after we slept together and I was scared. She was lying in my bed and I couldn't find it in me to tell her everything I wanted.

"Rory even tried to talk to me about what we were and I pushed her away. I don't know what I was thinking. And after I thought down and analyzed it I realized that I could never get away from her even if I wanted to. So I went to her apartment and basically told her I wanted her. That I wasn't leaving until she took me back and against her better judgment she did. Now we are together, but we agreed not to tell anyone about our relationship because otherwise we'd probably both lose our jobs."

There was a pause between them. Kylie was trying to digest the whole thing and Tristan had never expressed exactly how he felt about Rory.

"Do you love her?" Kylie's question knocked him out of his thoughts and he answered immediately.

"Of course I love her."

"No do you love her? The kind of love that lasts a lifetime. The kind of love that makes you want to see her every moment of every day. The kind of love that even at the moments you want to strangle her, you still want to kiss her at the same time. The kind of love that when you wake up in the morning, you adore the fact that she's lying next to you," she explained passionately

"The kind of love you had with Aiden?" he asked.

"Yes, the kind of love I had with Aiden," she replied, remembering her husband. He had died in a car accident about four years ago and Tristan never knew exactly how she was able to get through it. The way she handled Aiden's death made him admire her even more.

"The way you loved Aiden, that's the way I love Rory."

"Then Tristan she's the one you're meant to be with."

"I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I never thought I would want to say this, but I want to marry her. I want to be the one holding her every night. The one getting up at three in the morning to feed the six month old, so she doesn't have to. I want to be the one fighting with her over whether or not we should buy a mini van."

"You've never talked about a girl like that before."

"I use to think that about Rory back when I was younger, but I would never articulate it. I never thought it would be real, but now I've grown up and maybe it can happen."

"Tristan if Rory feels have the way you feel about her, then it will happen."

"Kylie, there are so many obstacles. I just don't know if we are going to be able to get through it. At one point we are going to have to move beyond the office. How are we suppose to have a real relationship if we can't even be out in the open without having to worry about getting in trouble?"

She looked at her brother. He had never been so in love before. In high school with Rory, he was in young love. In six months, she could tell that he had grown up more then in the past sixteen years. "You just have to get through it Tristan."

"I know."

The next morning, after he had signed the merger agreement, he had a few hours to kill before his flight back to Rome and to Rory. He wanted to get her something. He felt guilty leaving here there for a weekend without him, even though she had said she would be fine, he still wanted to make up it up to her.

And walking along Fifth Avenue, he found the store that he thought would be the perfect fit for what he was looking for.

Tiffany and Co.

He went in looking for a bracelet, maybe a necklace. However, among the crowd of people, he made his way to the ring section. After his purchase, he swore that his subconscious must have led him to the section designated for men aspiring to propose to the women they loved. He settled on a white gold ring with a square cut diamond in the middle surrounded by a small diamond on each side. It was simple but at the same time had a little bit of the ostentatious Tristan desired so people knew Rory was taken.

For the past three weeks that velvet box had been taunting him. And right now it was even worse. His senses focused on the way it felt against his chest through the silk lining of the expensive designer suit he was wearing. He wanted to ask her.

In fact he had the entire scenario planned out. He had made reservations at one of the five star hotels on Le Cinque Terre in Genoa for the next weekend. They were going to have a nice dinner in one of the best restaurants of the area. Then on the balcony of the penthouse, he was going to get down on one knee and ask for her to spend the rest of her life with him.

Now on the plane ride to Hartford, he was scared for what was in store for them.

Rory was best friends with her mother. He had never seen someone so close with any of his or her parents than her. It was like Lorelai was Rory's twin, except older and her mother. They had the kind of relationship that every single mother-daughter and father-son wished for. And Tristan had a feeling that when him and Rory were parents themselves it was going to be exactly like that for them because Rory wouldn't settle for anything less.

Tristan ran his hand through Rory's hair. It had become a habit for him to do when she was sleeping. At three in the morning when he was thinking about the Parmesan cheese trade agreement, he would feel Rory's hair and he would get this feeling of serenity. He could remember doing the same exact thing when they were younger and now it was nostalgic, like it always should have been this way.

"Mr. Dugrey?" someone softly said.

He turned around to see the assistant pilot. "Yes?"

"We are going to land in twenty minutes."

"Thank you."

Forty-five minutes later, they had made it to the hospital. Rory had signed all the necessary papers and now Lorelai and Luke were in the operating rooms.

Tristan's current task was attempting to ease Rory's feelings of Lorelai's and Luke's well-beings.

"What if they're not okay, Tristan?" she asked, "What if it turns out that they're dying on the operating tables right now? I couldn't live if they were gone. I just couldn't."

They were sitting in the waiting area, next to each other in some of the most uncomfortable seating ever purchased by a hospital. She nuzzled into his shoulder and Tristan wrapped his arms around her.

"I know. Everything will be all right though."

"How do you know though?" she asked. Rory looked up at him with expectant eyes, hoping for reassurance.

"You have to have faith Rory. You have to know in your heart that they will be okay."

Softly she said, "They will be. They have to be."

"See. That's not so hard is it?"

"No I guess not."

"You just know things in your heart."

"Yep. Like I know that I love you," Rory looked at him and kissed him softly on the lips.

He melted. With her, he was finally himself and he never looked m ore complete. He looked into her eyes. It was now or never. "Will you marry me?"


	12. You And I Both

**Chapter 12**

Shock was all Tristan could register on Rory's face.

"Before you say anything, hear me out. I had it all planned. We were going to go to Genoa for the weekend and after a romantic dinner I was going to ask you on the balcony over looking the water." He placed his hand over hers. "Rory I love you. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Will you be my wife?" he asked again.

Rory sat up. She didn't really believe what was coming out of Tristan's mouth. Sure she heard the words, but she wasn't sure if she heard them correctly.

"You want to marry me?"

"Is that so hard to believe?" he asked rhetorically. Then he reached into his pocket and pulled out the velvet box that had been taunting him. His fingers played with the box for a moment. "Rory I've been carrying this around for weeks."

"Weeks?" she asked breathlessly.

He opened it, "Yes weeks. Rory I want to marry you."

She rubbed her forehead a little. "I'm starting to understand that now." She stood up. "I just don't what to say Tristan. We've only been dating for what three months? And we can't even go out in public and you're proposing to me in a hospital."

"I know. It's not the best situation, but it feels right Rory."

"Of course it feels right. It always feels right." She paused for a moment then she said softly, "Yes."

"Yes?" he asked, making sure he heard her right.

"Yes," she said a little bit louder. Impulsively she wrapped her arms around him and Tristan immediately responded, by clutching her closer.

"Oh, Rory. You make me so happy. And I will do anything to make you happy."

"I know. You already make me happy."

He pulled away from her for a moment. And in a quick gesture he took the ring out of the box and held Rory's hand. Before he slipped it on, he smiled at her then he slid the ring on her finger.

Awe filled Rory as she looked at the ring upon her finger. For a while after Logan, she thought she probably would never have the opportunity to get married. She knew that a miracle would have to happen for any man to be able to fall in love with her and her with him enough to marry him. Granted, she probably would have married Logan, if he had not realized that she still had feelings for her then former flame Tristan, even if she had not had contact with him.

And now everything was happening so fast. She had the opportunity to spend the rest of her life with the boy, wait a second, man that she could never imagine loving more. He had successfully swept her off her feet twice and now she could expect it to be that way forever.

Although there were two things holding Rory back about being able to fully appreciate being engaged to Tristan Dugrey. First, the fact that they still had not come forward with their relationship to the State Department. The only way they could actually be married is if State knew and that means if not one, then both of them would lose their jobs. And second and perhaps the scariest, was that Rory had still not told her mother. There was this unspoken rule that they would tell each other everything and over the past three months, Rory had broken that rule on numerous occasions. Now, especially since the accident Rory had even started to feel the guilt set in more. And she didn't want to think about what Lorelai would say when she saw Tristan here at the hospital.

Rory knew she had a lot talking and making up to do, once Lorelai had regained her faculties. It was hard to believe, but now she felt that she understood partly what Lorelai had gone through when Rory was in the hospital. It was like a part of her was gone, missing. Her mother was her best friend and not being able to talk to her was torture.

"Miss Gilmore?" The doctor approached her.

"Yes?"

"We've just finished the surgery. And your mother and Mr. Danes are in stable condition. They both are expected to make a full recovery."

Rory could not have heard better news. "Tristan, did you hear that?"

"I did."

"They're okay. They're both going to be fine. Thank you so much Dr. Hunt," Rory exclaimed.

The woman smiled. "No problem. If you have any questions, feel free to have the nurses' desk page you." The doctor started to walk away.

"Umm, before you go. When I can see Mom and Luke?"

"Oh yeah. Right now actually. We just moved them into Room 457."

"Okay, thanks."

Rory and Tristan immediately rose. They made their way through to the elevator. Once inside, implusively grabbed Tristan's hand. Tristan looked over at her and he could tell she was lost in her own thoughts.

He was happy for once that he was there for her, unconditionally. There were no questions and he could just hold her hand, while she was thinking. He liked being needed, especially by her.

Lorelai Gilmore Danes had never looked so different to her daughter, Rory, in all of Rory's thirty years. There were tubes going in her nose, one going down her throat and what seemed to Rory, to be IVs stuck in both of Lorelai's arms. Tristan had given Rory enough privacy by opting to stay outside, while Rory saw her mother for the first time.

Upon looking at her, Rory's hand came across her mouth, not in shock, but in despair. She had imagined what it would be like to witness her mother in such a state, but what she had imagined was nowhere near the way that the vision took her now. Immediately she came to Lorelai's side and took her hand in her own. It was the only part that seemed feasible to touch. Although upon further inspection, she noticed that there was a wire attached to her hand, but she quickly disregarded it. All she knew was that this was the closest, physical contact she had with her mother in six months, and despite the circumstances, she was going to cherish them.

"Oh Mom," a tear slid down on her face, "Look at you. Now I can only imagine what you were going through when I was in the hospital. I never want to put you in that again.

"Well I guess there are some things I should tell you. And you can't get mad that I didn't tell you." She paused for a moment. Most likely, her mother was not hearing this, but it still felt good to get it off of her chest. After all she would be the first one to know. "You know that Tristan and I are working together, but what you probably didn't know is that we have dating for the past four months. And before you say that he's just stringing me along and he's going to break my heart, you have to know that he's changed Mom. He's really changed. He's not the same person he was thirteen years ago. He's grown up.

"You probably don't believe that, but just so you know, he asked me to marry him today. And I said yes. Please don't be disappointed in me. You liked him when we were dating. I know that was probably because you had because I didn't give you any choice in the matter, but I love him Mom.

"It's not the puppy love we had at Chilton. It's so much more. I always thought it was him that needed to grow up, but I realized that it was the both of us. I had to grow up too Mom. And I have. Now I have the opportunity to be with the man that somewhere deep down I always knew I would end up with. I hope that you'll be happy for me and I know that you will, because I'm your daughter." Rory took a deep breath. She felt as if a weight had been taken off her shoulders. At least she had said what she wanted to say to her mother, despite her lack of consciousness.

A moment later, one of the nurses came in and informed Rory that she had to take out the feeding tube because they expected Lorelai to come out of her coma. Rory assumed this was good news so she quickly consented.

Her attention then turned to the man that she had come to know as her father. Yes, Chris was her dad and she knew that he loved her, but if it came down to Rory needing something she went to Luke Danes, the local diner owner of Stars Hollow, but most recently known as her step-father.

If it was possible, he looked worse than her mother. There was bruising all over his face, cuts on his arms, and from what Rory could tell he was breathing on a respirator.

"Luke," she said breathlessly. "What happened? It's so hard to see you like this. You're Luke, not this guy on a hospital bed," she stated quietly.

Rory ran a hand through her hair. She needed something to calm her down. The whole situation was entirely overwhelming. Two people she loved were lying in hospital beds and she could do absolutely nothing about it.

"Rory?" Tristan's soothing voice entered the atmosphere.

She turned around with tears in her eyes. "Yeah?" She attempted to wipe her tears away.

"The nurse said visiting hours are over. I tried to get them to let you stay, but they wouldn't budge."

"Oh, okay. I'll just say goodbye and then we can go."

"Take your time. I'll be waiting for you," he smiled encouragingly.

Rory turned around to face Luke and Lorelai again. "Okay guys, well I have to go now. Visiting hours are over. Sorry. I want to stay, but they just wouldn't let me. Hang in there, okay? I love you Mom, and you too Luke. Bye." She kissed them both on their foreheads and left the hospital room.

Tristan watched her say goodbye to Luke and Lorelai. He didn't want to intrude on her personal moment, but he needed to see her. Right now, she was his fiancée. He never thought those words would roll off his tongue, but they were and he couldn't have been any happier.

Rory came out of the hospital room and Tristan greeted her, "You ready?"

"Yeah. I just don't want to leave them."

"I know, but the nurses will take good care of them and we can come back tomorrow." He put his arm around her in comfort.

"Okay," she paused for a moment. "Shouldn't you go back to the embassy tomorrow? You don't need to stay here with me."

"I'll try and stay here for a few more days. There's a meeting I have to go on Friday, so we have two days. I want to be here for you, Rory, okay?"

"I know, but your job is important to you and I don't want you too miss out on anything because you are here with me."

He stopped walking toward the exit, which was less than a hundred feet in front of them. "Rory," he placed his hands on her face, "You have to understand something. You are the most important thing in the world to me. Nothing, not my job or anything else, will get in the way of you. Don't doubt that okay? I'm going to be here with even if you don't think I should be okay?" he exclaimed passionately.

Rory leaned into his touch. After a moment she nodded. "Okay."

"Good. Ready to go to my house?"

"Yeah."


	13. All At Once

**Chapter 13-All At Once**

Tristan's Mercedes pulled up in the driveway of his childhood home. Even though it had been somewhat of a prison for him in his teenage years, after his parents' deaths, he couldn't bring himself to sell it. It held too many memories.

Rory could remember exactly the first time she had set foot in the Dugrey mansion. It had been one day after school, when Tristan and her had been working on a school project. They had not been dating yet, but their relationship consisted of lots of bickering and sexual innuendoes. She didn't like Tristan at that point, but she had this undeniably urge to kiss him all the time. Maybe it was his messed up hair or little smirk on his face that she constantly wanted to wipe off. She couldn't admit she was attracted to him, but she knew there was something there.

The whole house still had that intimidating feeling about it, that still hadn't gone away in fifteen years. It was ornate and overly dramatic. And once Tristan and Rory crossed the threshold, Rory suddenly felt fifteen again.

Her mind threw her back to the time when she had her Chilton uniform on and a yellow backpack thrown over her shoulder. She always felt intimidated by Tristan and his house definitely reflected that. She didn't know what she was getting herself into when she walked into his house. She was still unassuming and definitely innocent by all standards.

Rory could even remember what he said to her, "So my room or the kitchen?"

"Kitchen," she responded, thinking that it would probably provide less innuendo.

"What? My room's too scary for you?" he teased.

"We can probably get more done if we are the kitchen. There won't be any…" the word she looked for seemed to elude her.

Tristan easily offered, "Distractions?"

"Yes, distractions." It sent an eerie feeling through Rory's spine as he finished the sentence for her.

They went into the kitchen and spread their study materials over the massive counter.

"Do you want anything to drink? Soda, water, and I think we have coffee?" Tristan asked, attempting to be a good host.

Immediately Rory responded with an easy smile, "Coffee, thanks."

"No problem."

"I was thinking that we could divide the project to make it easier. I can do the French Revolution and you can do the American Revolution. Once we get all the research together, then we do the compare and contrast part. Does that sound good?"

Without any type of smart remark he simply said, "Sure."

Surprised Rory stated, "Okay."

Tristan handed a ceramic cup to her, filled with brown liquid. She didn't notice him watching her, taking her first sip. She didn't notice that he found the act all too sensual for his taste, so he quickly turned away from her.

Setting the cup down, she faced Tristan. "Here are some books I picked up and you have your textbook right?" He nodded. "Good. That's all we really need."

"Good."

"Yeah."

Rory watched him take his attention away from her and focus on the books she had placed in front of him. She watched him flip through the first few pages of one of the books. Something caught his attention and he took note of it. He seemed studious at the moment and dare she admit it to herself, he looked almost normal. Normal enough to not be the Tristan Dugrey that Rory had grown to find intolerable.

That afternoon, Rory remembered he had been agreeable and overall accommodating. He wasn't pretentious or teasing. They actually had a few intelligent discussions that Rory even might have wished to last a little bit longer. She laughed with him. And not in the sarcastic way she had developed over the past couple months of them knowing each other. No, she truly laughed with him.

Four hours had gone by and as to be expected Rory's mom called, asking what in god's name she had been doing and Rory calmly explained she was at Tristan.

"Mom, I'm doing a project with Tristan."

"Bible Boy?" Lorelai exclaimed.

"Yes, Mom."

"Oh. That's an interesting development. Well I guess I can come pick you up."

"Oh, you don't have to. I'm literally two blocks away from Grandma's and it's already eight. I'll just spend the night there."

"Rory it's no problem for me to come get you."

"I know but you have to be at work early tomorrow and I don't want you to be cranky. I have an extra uniform at Grandma's and I'm sure she will be more than happy than to let me stay there."

"Okay, but call me in the morning. Promise?"

"Of course."

"Bye love."

"Bye Mom."

Rory pressed the button on her phone to end their conversation and turned back towards Tristan.

"Is everything okay?" he asked.

"Yeah. I'm just going to spend the night at my grandmother's. Star's Hollows too far for my mom to drive and I don't want her to be tired tomorrow so it's just easier for me to go there," Rory explained.

"Oh. The Gilmores live about two streets down."

"I noticed that on the way here."

"Oh."

"Yeah. So I guess I better get going."

Impulsively he asked, "Wait, do you want to stay for dinner? I know it's late and you probably want to get to your grandparents, but one of the servants already ordered pizza for me and it should be here any minute so if you want you can stay."

"I don't want to be a problem. It's fine. I can go." She started gathering her things.

"Rory, really it's not that big of a deal."

As if on cue, the doorbell rang. "See that's the pizza. Please stay. You are anything but a problem Rory."

She looked at him. He did seem like he wanted her to stay. "Pizza does sound good."

"So you'll stay?"

"Yeah," she nodded. Why not? She thought to herself. It couldn't hurt.

Little did Rory know that the pizza was a start to a relationship, one that would leave her loved, heartbroken, and eventually the rekindled kind of love. It was during the moments while they were eating pizza that Rory was finally able to admit to herself that she was attracted to Tristan. In fact, she even had the ability to show it by the end of the night.

Tristan walked her to the door and they were laughing. "That always was one of my favorite movies," he commented.

"It's a classic," she said referring to Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory. There was a pause for a moment and then she said, "I had a lot of fun tonight. Thanks."

"No problem. If it wasn't for you getting all those books we wouldn't have had so much time to just hang out," he thanked.

"It was nothing."

"So…I'll see you later."

"Yeah. Bye." For some reason, unexplainable to herself she leaned up a little bit and kissed him on the cheek and said softly, "You're not as much of jerk as you make yourself out to be."

Shocked by her actions, Tristan didn't say anything. Rory expected him to do something, like make some comment or anything, but he didn't respond. He just kind of stood there.

"Okay well I'm gonna go. Bye," she turned around to walk out of his house.

He grabbed her hand. "Wait." She glanced up at him nervously, unsure of what he was going to say. "Rory don't hate me after I do this."

"Do wh-" she was cut off by his lips pressing on hers. It was her first kiss. Well Dean had kissed her, but not like the way Tristan was. There were tingles throughout her body and she felt something, something very strong.

After a moment, he pulled away. He saw the look on her face and said, "I knew you'd hate me. Damn. I shouldn't have done that. I'm sorry."

"Don't worry about it."

"No. I shouldn't have done that. It was really dumb. And you have that boyfriend. I think Paris said his name was Dean. Fuck. I just kissed someone's girlfriend."

She touched his arm. "It's okay. We broke up a couple weeks ago. You weren't kissing anyone's girlfriend."

Relief seemed to wash over his face. "Good. That's good."

"Yeah."

A thought seemed to occur to him. "Did he break up with you or did you break up with him?"

"He broke up with me," Rory stated, thinking back to when Dean told her he didn't want to be her boyfriend anymore after two months of dating.

"Why would he do that? He must be a real idiot!" he exclaimed.

"He wasn't an idiot. I couldn't tell him that I loved him," she explained. "That's why he broke up with me."

"Oh."

"I wasn't ready yet."

"Still he's an idiot. Any guy would be lucky to be with you."

She shook her head. "No they wouldn't be."

"Rory if you were my girlfriend I would hold onto you as tight as I could and never let you go."

"What are you saying Tristan?"

His blue eyes bore into hers. "I like you Rory. I like you a lot. I think I've liked you ever since that you walked in late to Mr. Medina's class. You're smart, beautiful and perfect. I just wish I had a chance with you."

Rory walked closer to him. "You do have a chance with me."

"You hate me though."

"No, I just don't like you when you're being a jerk. I like you when you're like this. Vulnerable, nice, genuine. You should be like this more often." This time she initiated the kiss. This one was longer and if it was possible, Tristan's touch made her even crazier.

Tristan pulled away to breathe and touched his forehead to hers. "Will you go out on a date with me Rory Gilmore?"

"Yes," she said full-heartedly.

With a smile on her face, she remembered the beginning of her and Tristan's romantic relationship. He was so perfect in that moment and she had him back.

"Do you want something to eat?" His question snapped her back into reality.

"Uhh, sure," she replied.

"Do you want pasta, take out of some kind: pizza, Chinese?"

Smiling she said, "Pizza. Definitely pizza."

"What's going on Rory? You have a very lovey-dovey look on your face," he commented while picking up the phone.

"Just remembering."

Knowingly he replied, "Our study date? The first time we kissed?"

"Yep." She went over to him and kissed him. "That was probably one of the best nights of my life."

"Really?"

"Of course. Isn't it one of yours?"

"It ranks up there. I just can't wait till I can declare to the world that you are my wife." He kissed her lightly then turned his attention back towards ordering the pizza.

Even though Lorelai and Luke were in the hospital she knew that Tristan was there to comfort her at anytime she needed him to. He was so important to her and now she was going to become his wife. Something that she dreamed about but never knew it was going to happen. Things would always stand in their way to make their relationship far from perfect, but Rory always knew that in the end it would work out. Because they made it work.

Even if their jobs forbid them from seeing each other, they were still going to. She had a feeling that she might be the one to give up hers and she was okay with that because it meant that she would get him. She would have him for the rest of her life and there would be no questions at all. She wanted to wake up next to him every morning and go to bed with every night.

She wanted the dream and she thought that maybe for once she was going to get it.


End file.
